Not a Dream
by Leila Data
Summary: Lucius Malfoy wakes up in his Manor to find his entire life has changed. Narcissa is nowhere to be found, Dobby is his servant again, and he's dangerously close to a vampire he must trust if he hopes to survive. But more horrific surprises await him in this new reality. Post DH. Rated M to be safe for violence, language, some intense themes .
1. Bloody Hell?

The first thing I was aware of was a splitting headache. I groaned as I opened my eyes, staring at the familiar ceiling of the bedroom I shared with Narcissa. I turned my head to the right and was surprised to find the bed empty. I moaned again as I sat up; it felt like I had a hangover. But I could not remember drinking the night before.

Had I had so much to drink I could not remember drinking at all?

Curious…I really could not remember anything about the night before. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, tossed some stray blond hair over my shoulder and went over to the window. Throwing the curtains open, I saw that the sun was just rising. I glanced over my shoulder at the bed again, wondering where Narcissa could be at this early hour.

Wrapping my dressing gown around me, I poked my head into the bathroom. My brow furrowed; not because of Narcissa's absence, but because the bathroom seemed devoid of any of her belongings. Why would my wife remove all her possessions from our bathroom? That would only make sense if she was…

…leaving.

My eyes widened in horror. No, that could not be it. It did not make any sense at all. Had she gone to visit a friend for a while and I had simply forgotten? Surely it was something along those lines. Narcissa would never leave me.

I quickly left the bedroom and wandered down the hall to the library. Not the most likely place to be so early in the morning, but it was close by and Narcissa did enjoy spending time there. _Usually with me_ I thought with a smug smile. But my darling Narcissa was nowhere to be found. As I headed to the stairs, I passed Draco's door and was tempted to knock to see what he knew, but I decided to continue my search downstairs first.

A quick look into each room of the Malfoy Manor proved fruitless. Then I thought of the kitchen; given our lack of a house-elf, she could be making breakfast. I gave the parlor one last check and shook my head. "Where is she?"

"Who, sir?"

Startled by the voice, I jumped and turned sharply. I knew that voice, but I had not heard it in years. But there he was—bat-like ears and bulging eyes and all. "_Dobby?_" I sneered both in shock and contempt.

"Master," he said with a little bow.

I blinked, expecting the house-elf to vanish. However, Dobby was still standing there, cowering slightly in fear, as he always used to. But he had long been freed from his bonds to the Malfoy family, thanks to the Potter brat. I could not keep myself from asking, "What are you doing here?"

Dobby glanced around nervously. "Dobby heard you ask a question, sir, and thought Dobby was wanted."

I could not help but smile slightly. This was a dream, most likely. Draco would probably appear, a great deal younger and childish, and Narcissa…

Narcissa should have been in bed with me. "Where is Narcissa?" I asked. If Dobby was so willing to help, he may as help me find my wife, dream or not.

Dobby's face fell and he took a step back, very obviously fearing my reaction to whatever he was about to say. "Does Master not remember, sir?"

"Remember what?" I asked impatiently. If this was a dream, Dobby's accurate portrayal was getting rather annoying. Why didn't he just tell me where my wife was?

"The Mistress is…" Dobby took a small step backwards and just out of reach of my foot should I have chosen to kick him. That meant something I was not going to like. "The Mistress has been gone for a year, sir." A sharp pain shot through my heart. "She was killed in an attack by the Order of the Phoenix, sir."

I felt the blood rush from my face and my heart pound. But that was a lie. The war was over—the Dark Lord had lost. Why would the Order attack us now? And a year ago? That made no sense at all.

Taking a few deep breaths, I remembered my theory that this was a dream. Apparently it was more of a nightmare. "You're lying," I said simply. Dobby shook his head sadly. "This is a dream," I muttered, more to myself than to the servant. "This has to be a dream—a nightmare. Soon I will wake up and Narcissa will be next to me…"

Dobby shook his head again, taking another step back. "Dobby is sorry, sir, as always, sir."

I stared at the house-elf as the pain of his news overcame me. For a dream, this felt all too real. The pain of half of me being dead, my lover torn away from me…I had to wake up from this nightmare. It was too much to bear.

Sensing movement behind me, I stiffened, trying to glance behind me without whomever it was noticing. "Draco?"

Wincing, my son turned to me. "Yes, Father?" For a moment I was speechless—his appearance was not at all what I remembered. Only his pale, pointed face was the same. His hair was longer and tied back as I often tied mine. He was wearing a dark cloak that hid most of his body completely from view, but from what I could tell, he was much more muscular than the Draco I remembered. And his eyes were dead. No, not completely dead…but the only emotion I could see behind them was fear. And then a strange thought struck me.

_He was afraid of me._

But why would my son be giving me the same look Dobby had been giving me when he had informed me of Narcissa's death?

The searing pain I felt in my heart could not be compared to anything I had felt before. But I had to remember that this was a dream. It had to be. Dobby was not a servant in my Manor, Narcissa was not dead, and my son was not afraid of me.

"Where is Narcissa?"

Draco refused to look me in the eye. "Father…the attack…"

"As Dobby told you, sir," Dobby said quietly.

My hands clenched, and anger suddenly welled up inside of me. Narcissa was _not_ dead! Why did they keep telling me that?

I was hardly aware that I had moved when my foot suddenly impacted with Dobby's head. The house-elf gave a little squeal of pain, but did not run or plead. He merely braced himself for another strike, as though expecting more blows to follow, like it happened all the time.

_Like it happened all the time…_

I turned to look at my son again, an eyebrow arched with morbid curiosity. Draco flinched and slid a foot backwards, and I now noticed a scar on the side of his face. He had been partially turned the other way before, and I had not seen it. It appeared suspiciously jagged, like something had caught on his skin and torn it.

I instinctively flexed the muscles in my hand, glancing down at my wedding ring before looking at Draco again. My eyes suddenly went back down to the ring. I ran a finger over it, feeling the small bit of metal that was out of place. It gave the ring character, in Narcissa's opinion, so I never had it fixed. But looking up at my son's scar made me realize that I had hit him, and the ring had caused extra damage.

But I never hit my son. I had struck him once, when he was excessively rude to his mother at a party when he was seven, but that had not left a mark. The way Draco was looking at me…he was a young man, not a child, yet he was obviously afraid of me.

I felt the strange urge to strike Draco as he continued avoiding my gaze. I took a deep breath to keep myself under control as I strode up the stairs as quickly as I could and into my room. It was dream, and dreams could be changed. Perhaps if I did what was normal for me, changing clothes and eating breakfast or something, then maybe the dream would turn happier, or at least into daily life.

As I was changing, I suddenly felt a burning pain in my left arm. I dropped the cloak I was holding, cursing in surprise at the pain, and looked at the source.

The Dark Mark.

It was as clear as the day the Dark Lord had returned. And it was burning—_he_ was calling.

That could not be true. The Dark Lord had lost; he had been killed in the battle at Hogwarts. I quickly finished changing and headed downstairs again, completely confused and terrified as to what was happening. The Dark Lord and I were on less than good terms…I think. Then again, I do not remember beating my son, or Dobby being around anymore, or Narcissa being…my breath caught in my throat.

"The room is ready, Father," Draco said quietly, motioning to the dining room.

I stared at him with confusion until there was a sharp knock at the door. My Manor was not the headquarters again…was it? Dobby answered the door and was immediately kicked aside by a young man in his early twenties.

I knew the man instantly, although I did not recognize him. His cold eyes surveyed the room, looking upon Draco and Dobby with distaste, before taking a few steps toward me. "Lucius!" he said, his voice as cold and snakelike as I remembered, although the body it came out of was considerably younger and much better looking.

"My Lord," I said, bowing my head respectfully. What else could I do in the presence of the Dark Lord?

I shivered as the Dark Lord chuckled. "Lucius, my old friend." His hand sent a shudder through my body as he placed it on my shoulder. "How are things at the Ministry? I trust you are enjoying your latest appointment?"

"Yes, my Lord." I tried my best not to stutter, my mind still trying to overcome the shock and horror of the Dark Lord being alive, in my house…and so young! Had I traveled back in time?

No, not with Draco being a young man and Narcissa being dead.

_This is not a dream._

The thought caused me to momentarily freeze with terror. Though I had no other explanation for what was happening, I had never had a dream like this, or one that felt so real. I had to believe that this is reality.

"Minister of Magic—a high post. But you served me well—you deserve it."

_I have…what? _I had been a failure. My family had been decimated because I had failed in one task.

"The others should be arriving soon." As we headed into the dining room, which was set up for a large number of people, the Dark Lord continued. "The Order is beginning to cause problems again. We should have eliminated them before, but apparently our mercy on them has led them to regroup and strike again."

The Dark Lord sat at the head of the table, and it was only then that I noticed the snake at our feet. Nagini curled up on the chair around her master. When I did nothing, the Dark Lord motioned to the chair to his right._ Apparently I did something right. But what?_

"I thought you would be interested to know that Severus has discovered who killed dear Narcissa."

I turned to him sharply, daring to look him straight in the eyes as pain shot through me. So she was really dead. But Severus wasn't? Moistening my lips, I managed to say, "Who?"

"Your niece, ironically." My brow furrowed. "Nymphadora Tonks. I suppose I can understand that action." I glared at him without thinking of the consequences of such a bold move, but the Dark Lord appeared almost sympathetic. "You did, after all, kill her mate; that werewolf."

"Remus Lupin," I said quietly. But his wife was dead, and I had not killed him…at least, not in the reality I knew. Something had certainly changed.

"She's being left alive for now—I suspect you will want to have revenge."

I nodded, though I was almost numb to the Dark Lord's words as I began to truly understand that my darling Narcissa was dead. She was really gone…

Bellatrix was the first in. She came in and stooped to kiss the hem of the Dark Lord's robes. I wondered how I had forgotten to do that, and then how I had received no anger from the Dark Lord. I was actually in his favor. That had not been true for a _long _time.

Of course, it should not be true now either, since the Dark Lord was dead…and yet he was not, but he should have been…and Narcissa, my darling Narcissa, should be alive…

_What the bloody hell happened?_


	2. Memory

I generally remained silent throughout the meeting. I was surprised by the respect many of the Death Eaters were showing me. It was as though I was the second in command—but no one held that position to the Dark Lord. I was greatly in the Dark Lord's favor; I only wished that I knew _why_.

Another thing about the meeting struck me about half way through. Someone had knocked at the front door, and the Dark Lord had motioned for me to go see who it was. As I walked by, a shudder passed through most of the Death Eaters, including my son.

_They fear me almost as much as the Dark Lord…_

What had I done? Who was I?

Then I wondered why the Dark Lord had sent me to open the door…

The man at my door was dead. At least, he was dead in my reality. Severus Snape nodded to me curtly. He was oilier than usual…no, that was sweat. Unlike most of the others I had met, Severus did not appear to be afraid of me. The perspiration on his forehead was due to the struggling body he had brought with him. From what I could see, the body was that of a woman, but I did not know who it was due to the bag that was over the woman's head.

"Severus," I said, inclining my head slightly, eyes still on the woman captive.

Severus grimaced as the woman kicked him in the shins. "Severus, you foul, loathsome man!" a voice said from inside the bag. "You'll die for this, you traitor!"

"It is not my life you should be worried about, _Nymphadora_," Severus sneered.

The woman growled. "_Don't_ call me Nymphadora!"

Blood was pounding in my ears. This woman had killed Narcissa. This _niece_ of mine was a murderess, and my wife was her victim.

_It was simply another day at work; that was all. I had a relatively high post, but there was no Minister of Magic due to the Dark Lord overthrowing him. I was meeting Narcissa for lunch, and I was running a little late. I knew that she was down in the lobby of the Ministry, waiting for me, so I rushed to get all my work in order and headed to the elevator._

_The lobby was filled with people, as usual, but now there were many who appeared terrified by me and others, other Death Eaters who were keeping the Ministry under control. I could see Narcissa near the large fountain. The fountain was being remodeled to appear as the Dark Lord and apparently some of his most loyal servants. I was pleased to note that I seemed to be one of them._

"_Narcissa, darling!" I waved as I approached. She smiled as she caught sight of me—I never got over how beautiful she was when she smiled._

_Suddenly there was a scream._

_Spells began appearing from nowhere, ricocheting around the lobby. Many began yelling and running. I drew my wand and ran to Narcissa's side. The Death Eaters had been expecting an attack from the Order for some time, and this could be it._

_The members of the Order were like vermin that needed to be stamped out. I saw one of the sources of the spells, and began attacking it ferociously. I felt Narcissa's hand on my arm as she protected me from any spells from behind. How I loved that woman…_

_There was a bright flash of green light, and Narcissa's grip suddenly strengthened before her hand left my arm. I dared to look away from the man I was dueling. At first, I could not find her; then I lowered my gaze._

_Narcissa was slumped onto the ground, her blue eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. "Narcissa?" I knelt down beside her, ignoring the spells that were flying overhead as I stroked her cheek. "Darling? Narcissa, my love?" I was shaking. She was gone. Someone—someone in the Order—had killed her._

_Hatred flowed through my body as never before as I whirled around and raised my wand to the man I had been dueling. "_Crucio!_"_

_And he was not the first I tortured…_

_Only one of the Order escaped from that lobby. My wife's murderer managed to disappear; but all the others felt the pain I did before they died. I was fierce, I was brutal—they had murdered my love, and they deserved no less than pure agony for it._

I grit my teeth as this memory surfaced. My breaths were hard to find as my hand clenched in a fist. Nymphadora Tonks was going to pay dearly for what she had done…

"I'll take her to the cellar," Severus said, brushing past me and pulling the woman…the _murderess_…along with him. It took all my self-control not to whip out my wand and hurt her right there…but there was a meeting going on, it would have to wait.

What was I thinking?

That memory…it was so vivid, so real…but that had never happened.

_Had it?_

Were my memories a dream? The life I remembered a delusion? This was most certainly real, but a young Dark Lord, me as his most trusted servant…it did not make sense. But it was clearly real.

_Was I going mad?_

I still could not remember anything else that matched this reality. The memory with the Order attack at the Ministry seemed like a fluke. I suppose I attach so much on that memory, given that I lost the love of my life…perhaps what I had originally believed was reality was a dream.

But that still left open the option that I was going mad, and I did not like that prospect. The loss of Narcissa could easily have forced me into madness… I put a shaking head to my eyes as I felt myself teetering over the edge of insanity as I thought on her death.

"Lucius?"

I looked up at Severus and realized that I had been standing idle for far too long. He put a hand on my shoulder. "I miss her, too," he said quietly, glancing toward the cellar. "That's why I brought _her_ along. The Order will know she's missing soon. I have to get back before they suspect."

I nodded slowly as Severus went to quickly pay his respects to our Master before he left. So Severus was still spying for the Dark Lord.

_But he was spying for Dumbledore._

I remembered, in my reality, or the other reality, that the Dark Lord had discovered the Severus Snape was a traitor (after his death). What about here and now? Was Severus loyal to the Dark Lord, or to Dumbledore?

Was Dumbledore even around? He had died in my memory, but perhaps he was still alive…

I hated this uncertainty in everything. I had to watch everything I said and everything I did extremely carefully; and even then I could slip given my lack of knowledge about what was happening in this reality. I needed to find someone that I could trust with my life, someone who could help me catch up with everything that I seemed to have forgotten.

But in this other reality, whom did I trust? I had no way of knowing who my close allies were, if I had any at all. My first thought was Narcissa. I blinked tears from my eyes and tried to focus on someone else. My son? No…Draco may be family, but he feared me, and if he saw weakness he would likely betray me. Bellatrix? I nearly laughed at that. I never trusted Bellatrix, and I doubted that I did in his reality. The Dark Lord was an obvious no, as were the rest of the Death Eaters.

I looked after Severus as he left the Malfoy Manor, his cloak billowing behind him. What of Severus? If he was indeed a spy for the Order and not for the Dark Lord, he would be the person I could trust most with my weakness. But what if this reality was vastly different? What if Severus was loyal to the Dark Lord?

I tried to maintain a façade of confidence as I walked back to my place beside the Dark Lord, allowing some of my anger at Nymphadora Tonks to show through. I hoped that I was leaving the correct impression on those in the room. Given the shudder that seemed to follow me as I walked back to my chair at the Dark Lord's right, I was behaving as expected.

"Severus tells me that he brought your niece. Would you like an audience, or would you like to have your revenge in private?" I wondered if he expected an answer, but then the Dark Lord smirked slightly, as though that had been his attempt at a joke. "You can do whatever you please with her after the meeting."

I was slightly uncomfortable with what the Dark Lord was implying about the way I would be punishing Tonks for her action, but I said nothing and merely set my jaw and glared at the glossy tabletop of the dining room table, my hands clenched into fists on top of it. "She will pay for what she did to my darling Narcissa," I muttered.

I did not mean to say it aloud, but apparently this was not unexpected of me. Draco nodded slightly, and Bellatrix grinned devilishly.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. I could not trust anyone on the Dark Lord's side to help me solve the puzzles of this reality. But perhaps in the process of punishing Tonks, I could gain some information. It may not work…but I would be thankful for anything information she could scream as I tortured her…

I noticed that my fists had relaxed slightly as I thought of torturing Tonks, as though the thought of hurting another actually calmed me. But my heart was pounding—in anticipation?

What kind of man was I? I had never thrived off of the pain of others. The Cruciatus Curse was Bellatrix's specialty, not mine. The Imperius Curse was what I normally used to achieve the Dark Lord's goals.

I silently chided myself. I was thinking in terms of another reality again. Pain again struck my heart as I remembered the day Narcissa was murdered; but in that memory, I had never used the Imperius Curse. Both _Crucio_ and _Avada Kedavra_ had been my weapons that day.

I had changed. I was different. But I was still completely confused as to what was happening, and why. Glancing at the Dark Lord, I marveled at his youth. I had never seen him so young. If his eyes had been warm instead of cold, one would believe that he was a very kind, handsome young man. This must be what he looked like before he transformed into the Dark Lord I remembered.

I tried to listen to the meeting, but found my eyes wandering the room and the people in it instead. Again, no one seemed to find this odd, all of them looking away as I gazed at them, as though afraid. I recognized nearly all the faces surrounding me, although some surprised me, given that I remembered them being dead. My eyes suddenly locked on a bookshelf on the wall of the other side of the room. The bookshelf was nearly empty, except for one old, leather-bound book in the center. It was familiar…

My eyes widened. It was the book the Dark Lord had entrusted to me before he had first fallen. The book I had covertly given to the Weasley girl. I remembered what was written in it: T.M. Riddle.

_Tom Riddle's diary._


	3. Pain and Pleasure

Severus Snape was still unable to inform us of the new location of the Order of the Phoenix, something that was beginning to frustrate the Dark Lord greatly. But Severus was not the Secret Keeper for that information, thus we had to work with that information.

Most of the meeting had consisted of defensive plans around the Ministry, from what I had listened to, at least. Something I found odd was that never, not once, was the name "Harry Potter" mentioned by anyone at the table. Perhaps he was not a primary focus in this reality.

Everyone was leaving now. Bellatrix was hanging behind, perhaps hoping to join me in punishing Tonks. The Dark Lord was the last to leave before Bellatrix, thanking me for the use of my home for the meeting.

The Dark Lord thanking me. That was bizarre. I _really _did something right.

Bellatrix sneered in the general direction of the cellar. "Forgive me, Bella, but this is something I need to do on my own." I motioned to the front door. "Believe me, she _will_ pay."

Bellatrix appeared quite annoyed at being shown out, but she did not protest as I expected. Even she, my sister-in-law, was slightly afraid of me.

I closed the door behind her a bit harder then I meant to, wincing as it slammed shut. I turned around and saw Draco heading up the stairs. I considered calling after him, but then I wondered what I would say. "Dobby!" I called. Oh, I loved having a servant at my beck and call again.

"Yes, Master?" Dobby said after appearing with a sharp "crack."

"Make sure that Draco stays upstairs. I don't want anyone interrupting me."

"Yes, Master," Dobby said with a little bow. "Dobby will do as Master asks."

"Thank you, Dobby."

I blinked in surprise. I had just thanked my servant. Dobby was staring at me with wide eyes, shocked. "Dobby welcomes Master, sir!" he said, his eyes lighting up. "Dobby will make the young Master stay in his room all week, if Master wishes!"

I shook my head, smiling slightly in amusement. I never realized how little it took to make Dobby happy—and apparently, especially loyal. "Just until I say it's all right for him to leave, all right, Dobby?"

"Yes, Master!" Dobby said, bowing so low his nose touched the ground. He disappeared with a "crack."

As soon as my house-elf vanished, I went back into the dining room where the meeting had been held. I took the book, Tom Riddle's diary, from the shelf and opened it. It did indeed say "T.M. Riddle," just as I had remembered. I had last seen it covered in ink and blood with a basilisk fang piercing through it. But this book was undamaged.

How was that possible? I had given the diary to Ginny Weasley, who had foolishly poured her heart into the book, and then the Dark Lord's memory had opened the Chamber of Secrets through her. He had eventually taken her into the Chamber as a sort of hostage as he drained the life out of her; but, of course, Harry Potter had to come along and save the day…

But what if Potter had not saved the day? What if he had been killed in the Chamber? The diary would have been untouched by the basilisk fang, Ginny Weasley's life would have been drained, and a teenage Dark Lord would have come to life.

And that teenager would now be in his early twenties.

So that's what I did. That's why I was in such favor with the Dark Lord, and feared by my fellow Death Eaters.

_I had brought the Dark Lord back to life._

And I remembered it.

"_You dared to return, Headmaster?" I asked the old man, my voice livid._

"_When Ginny Weasley was taken into the Chamber, the governors felt they had no choice."_

"_Ridiculous!"_

"_Curiously, Lucius, they were under the impression that you would curse their families if they did not remove me from my post in the first place._

"_You dare—!"_

_I was interrupted when the door to Dumbledore's office opened with a loud bang, and a boy, about sixteen or so, walked in. His eyes were cold, and his face filled with hatred. Dumbledore stood, his eyes wide in horror. "That's not possible…"_

"_You have done well, Lucius, my old friend," the boy said as he drew a wand. "Now for the old man."_

"_Not today, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly, but his face was full of sadness._

"Avada—_!" Albus Dumbledore vanished in a bright flash of light like fire._

"_Damn!" the boy, Tom, exclaimed. He turned to me. "You will be well rewarded for this, Lucius. You have done very well."_

_Suddenly I recognized the voice and fell to my knees. "My Lord," I gasped._

"_Rise, Lucius." I was shocked to see that the Dark Lord was smiling. "A great victory was won today. I have returned, and Harry Potter is dead." Dobby gave a little squeal as I slowly stood._

"_Quiet, Dobby!" I said harshly, hitting him over the head with my cane._

"_Come, Lucius. Let us gather the others…we have much work to do." The Dark Lord turned and strode from the room, with me at his heels…_

"Damn," I said under my breath. That was unexpected, to say the least. If that memory was real, and I had to believe it was, I had also helped in Harry Potter's death. No wonder the Dark Lord favored me so. The book slipped from my grasp and fell with small thud onto the floor as I turned to look at my reflection in the mirror of the room, half-expecting to see someone else looking back at me.

But it was me in the mirror, just as I remembered. My long, blond hair was smooth and sleek, perfect as always. My grey eyes were the same…and yet, different. There was something behind them that I did not recognize. Something dark…

I bent over and picked up the diary, sighing heavily as I placed it back on the shelf before I turned to go to the cellar. I drew my wand as I headed down the stairs and approached the door to the cellar, careful not to slip on the narrow stairs. My heart pounded as I approached the heavy door. Just on the other side was the woman who had murdered my darling Narcissa.

_She will pay…_

I stopped just before the door, my wand aimed at the lock to open it. Why was I hesitating? Tonks had murdered my wife, _and _she was an enemy of the Dark Lord. This should be no problem. I should enjoy the task of punishing her.

But in the reality I remembered clearly, I had not wanted to serve the Dark Lord anymore, and only did so to protect my family and myself. And Tonks _was_ my niece, and either way, killing her seemed wrong.

What was I doing? Talking myself out of it? I had no choice—I had to do it. It was expected of me, and I could not afford to do the unexpected, especially with my knowledge of the past being so limited. Anyway, in the reality I _did_ remember, she was already dead.

I opened the door with a muttered spell and said, "_Lumos._" My wand provided more than adequate light for the room, revealing a woman curled up in the corner. She looked at me, and her bright pink hair suddenly changed to a fierce orange as she glared at me in silence.

I had not remembered how young she was.

"You killed Narcissa," I murmured.

Tonks continued glaring at me, her eyes reflecting an obvious desire to hurt me. But I was the one with the wand. "Yes," she responded quietly. "But I was aiming for you, you murdering bastard." A growl escaped my throat. Narcissa must have seen it coming and gotten in the way…she had died for me. Tonks silenced for a brief moment in fear, but she continued anyway. "You killed the man I love."

"An eye for an eye, love for a love," I muttered quietly, seeing my darling Narcissa in my mind's eye.

"Not that I ever meant to let you live," she said harshly. "Even after that bitch was dead."

"_Crucio!_"

My reaction to Tonks' insult was so quick it startled me. The scream that was tearing from Tonks' throat threatened to make me go deaf. I lifted the spell and let her catch her breath. "Why are you trying to make me kill you?" I asked angrily.

Panting, Tonks looked up at me. "Aren't those your orders? Orders you should follow like the good little pawn that you are?"

Hated surged through me as I used the Cruciatus Curse again. I lifted the curse as I suddenly realized, "You_ are_ trying to make me kill you!" To shorten the pain she believed I had planned for her, most likely… Tonks looked at me in shock, blinking tears from her eyes as the last echoes of her latest screams had died.

I aimed my wand at her again. "You killed my wife…you say you never stopped hunting me…" I stepped closer, tears coming to my eyes as I thought of Narcissa. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," I said with a scowl. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you. Give me a reason not to torture you until you are mad," I snarled.

My heart pounded as I waited for an answer. Tonks had her mouth opened, as though she had a response, but she said nothing. Her hair slowly became a less violent shade of orange, and she finally said, "You sound…hopeful…"

"I am," I replied, my hand shaking in both anger and dread as I aimed my wand at her.

After thinking for a minute, Tonks swallowed and shook her head. "I can't."

"Damn you," I breathed. "_Crucio!_"

I hated the pleasure I felt at her screams.


	4. Mira and Manipulation

Dinner was a quiet affair, to say the least. Dobby was the only one who would speak as ran around and made sure that everything was to my liking. I noticed that being civil to the house-elf made him loyal and excessively happy. Normally I would never be kind to a servant, but it was nice to know that I could trust someone in my own household.

It suddenly hit me.

_I am an idiot._

I could ask Dobby everything I needed to know, and then simply order him not to tell, making sure that there were no loopholes for him, of course. I watched Dobby carefully as he poured me some more tea. I had gotten next to nothing out of Tonks…I would have to trust him if I could figure out no other way.

Draco was refusing to look at me, staring determinedly down at his own plate as he ate in silence. I knew he had heard the screams coming from the cellar, and he likely feared me even more now.

I had nearly lost control as I tortured Tonks. I had enjoyed it far too much. I knew it was wrong, but I did enjoy it. I had even left her alive; she had been crying and pleading for death by the end of it, yet I had not killed her. I was not entirely sure why I had not granted her wish—perhaps I simply wanted to get every last moment of pleasure possible.

_I really am despicable,_ I thought as I stabbed a piece of steak.

There was a knock at the door that echoed through the Manor. "Dobby, if you please…"

"Right away, Master!"

_I wonder who it is now…not Grindelwald, I hope…_

I smirked at my own little joke before I realized that, for all I knew, Grindelwald was still around. But it did seem that things had only altered after the incident in the Chamber of Secrets, and Grindelwald was…

In prison. Not dead…thus, he could indeed be around…

But this fear was instantly relieved as Dobby escorted a woman into the room. I tried to place her face…and was surprised to find that I could not. Draco looked from her to me and quickly stood and muttered something about excusing himself.

The woman watched after Draco with a small sigh and shook her head. "I do not understand his fear of me. I never did anything to him." She sat down without invitation a few chairs away from me.

"Can Dobby get you something to drink, Mira?"

"Just water would be fine, thank you, Dobby," she said, putting her arm casually over the back of the chair she was sitting in, clearly comfortable with her surroundings.

Dobby had addressed her by her first name—a sure sign of familiarity. So this "Mira" was someone who not only came over often, but also was a close friend; almost family. Yet I still could not place her face. I did not recognize her at all. Maybe she had been a friend of Narcissa's?

Dobby appeared with a glass of water. Mira nodded to the house-elf, taking a deep drink thankfully. I took this moment to look her over, trying to find something familiar about her. She was quite pale, with skin worthy of a Malfoy, but her hair was very dark, almost black. It was long and wavy, and momentarily reminded me of Bellatrix, but Mira had a much nicer face and a more pleasant aura about her.

Her clothing was rather odd to me—it seemed almost Muggle. She wore black pants and a black blouse with some silver designs sewn into it. The sleeves were three-quarters down her arms, clearly revealing a tattoo she bore on her right arm of a dragon. I noted that her left arm did not bear the Dark Mark. So she was not a Death Eater…a supporter, at least, if we were friends.

"Just because it's been three weeks since you've seen me does not mean that you can gawk, dear Lucius." I looked back to her face as she set down the glass of water. She was grinning broadly, revealing teeth that were sharper than average.

_A vampire?_ My eyes widened slightly at this prospect. Why would I be a friend with someone of _that _kind?

"Who are you?" I suddenly demanded. _Damn_. I hope that I did not just ruin everything…

Mira laughed. "Who am I? What kind of joke is that, Lucius?" She chuckled. "I'm your fairy godmother, come to grant you three wishes," she said, grinning and revealing her pointed teeth again.

"A genie grants three wishes, not a fairy godmother," I responded.

"Well, ask a silly question, get a silly answer!" She took another drink of water. I continued to stare at her, desperately trying to remember who she was. Mira eyed me curiously as she set the glass of water down. "Were you serious?"

I forced a laugh. "No, of course not!"

Mira leaned forward, her dark eyes studying me intently. "You were serious," she said quietly. "You don't remember who I am."

"Of course I do, Mira," I said, taking a bite of steak.

"Really? Then what's my last name?"

"Silly question," I said, coughing as a piece of steak went down the wrong way.

"I don't care. Answer it."

She spoke with such authority it was almost frightening. It suddenly occurred to me that Mira was the only one I had met thus far, excluding the Dark Lord, who did not appear remotely afraid of me. "I'm waiting," she said, her voice cold.

"I…don't remember," I admitted quietly. I could not believe that I had admitted that. Something about the woman's eyes had an almost hypnotizing effect.

Mira leaned back with a small sigh, scrutinizing me. "Zabini," she said quietly. "My father was a Zabini."

"And your mother was…"

"Not his wife," Mira said, flinching.

"That's not quite what I meant."

Mira cocked her head and the laughed. "You have not forgotten everything, then. Yes, I am…well, half-vampire I suppose. It never bothered you much before." She sighed heavily. "Not that you have to believe me, I suppose. I don't see how you could have forgotten me, really…though we did only meet shortly after…" Mira looked away, her hands clenching into fists. "Poor Cissy…I loved her like a sister, you know. She was always so kind to me, despite my being a…'creature,'" Mira said. Then she smiled at me softly. "Apparently it is a Malfoy trait to be kind to me." She looked after where Draco went. "Or to fear me…"

"So you were a friend of Narcissa's?" I said, holding back tears as my wife's death resurfaced in my mind.

Mira nodded, tears in her own eyes. "I never had a friend before her." She bit her lip. "Did you ever find the one who did it?"

I shifted uncomfortably, thinking of Tonks in the cellar. "Yes."

"I hope you used a good dose of the Cruciatus Curse before you killed them," Mira said draining her glass.

"You seem quite thirsty," I said, suddenly shuddering as Mira's eyes glinted strangely.

"I need to stop spending so much time in the sun…it's not good for me." She looked at me and laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not about to drink your blood. Though I am sure you taste delicious, I'd rather not kill a friend just because I'm thirsty."

_Taste delicious?_ I shuddered again, now knowing why Draco may have been afraid. And I did not remember Mira—how could I trust what she said?

"Water seems to tide me over quite well, fortunately. I would rather not have the Ministry come after me." She laughed again. "Oh, I forgot; you're the Minister now, aren't you? The Dark Lord must be very pleased with you. As usual, of course."

I set aside my knife and fork and took a deep breath. Mira already knew that I did not remember her…perhaps I could get her to tell me more. "Mira…since, for some reason, I don't remember much about you…can you tell me a little about our relationship?"

"I'm your lover, of course." I gaped at her in shock for a moment as Mira stifled a laugh. "I'm sorry, I have a terrible sense of humor," she said, covering her mouth as she giggled. "We're friends mostly."

"Mostly?" I inquired, arching an eyebrow.

"And…" Mira suddenly paused as she gazed at me. "Actually, I'm not sure I want to tell you the rest." She coughed and looked down at her hands.

"Mira?" I said quietly. "What is it?"

"I just…take care of things for you."

"What things?" I asked, though I was already beginning to get a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"You remember Peter Pettigrew?"

I nodded. "Sniveling idiot," I muttered.

"I killed him for you."

I looked up sharply at her. "What?"

Mira sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have given you a specific example…"

"An example?" I exclaimed, leaning forward. "There were more?"

Mira swallowed and nodded. "You're my friend, and I couldn't refuse you…especially when you were offering me a way to get more blood…" She licked her lips at the mere thought. "Anyone who got on your bad side, really. You sometimes called me your 'secret weapon.'"

I gawked at her. I had my own personal assassin?

"No one questions the disappearances, not even the Dark Lord. You two seem to always agree on things like that…"

"He knows about you? What you do?"

Mira laughed brightly. "No, he knows nothing of me. But he does know that those you greatly dislike have the habit of turning up dead. I've even gone after a few members of the Order for you…though that's a much more difficult accomplishment, and I really wish the Dark Lord would stop hinting that he wishes 'you' to dispose of them." She sighed again, looking up at the ceiling.

I swallowed hard as I took all this in. No wonder everyone was so frightened of me. I beat members of my own household and my enemies mysteriously die. "I also destroyed Hufflepuff's cup for you, much to Bella's chagrin," Mira said with a laugh. "But it was never pinned on you because _you_ didn't do it," Mira said with an amused smile.

"Destroyed the cup…but that would mean…"

"Well, you are next in line for complete control of the wizarding world."

My mouth dropped open. "I'm trying to overthrow the Dark Lord?"

Mira eyed me carefully. "You're don't remember anything, do you?" I said nothing. "Do you know who Narcissa is?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "I didn't forget _everything_." I hated admitting that there was something I did not know. "I just…some recent events are a bit hazy."

Mira nodded slowly. "That's understandable, Lucius. Narcissa's death…it must be affecting you more now because you finally found the one who killed her."

I took a deep breath, again remembering Narcissa's death. Tonks came to mind, and I glanced at the ground, as though I could see through it and to the cellar. I jumped as I felt two cold hands on my shoulders. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Mira's voice said from behind me as she massaged my shoulders.

My first thought that this was rather inappropriate. My second was that I could die any moment. I still did not remember Mira, and being a vampire so close to me, what if she…?

"If there is anything else you don't remember, I can try to tell you," Mira said in my ear; she was far too close to my neck for comfort. "Even with a failing memory, I'd rather have you in control."

"_You took care of him?"_

"_Most certainly."_

_I sighed. "The Dark Lord was asking questions about how I achieved Shacklebolt's murder."_

"_And?"_

"_I told him I had a secret weapon."_

"_He left it at that?" Mira asked, surprised._

_I shuddered. "Fortunately. He found it hard to question, given that a powerful enemy had been destroyed."_

"_He suspects nothing?"_

"_Severus is a good teacher."_

_Mira took a drink of water, her dark eyes surveying the room. "Have you ever thought about it?" she asked, her eyes focused on Tom Riddle's diary._

_I arched an eyebrow as I took a sip of wine. "Thought about what, my secret weapon?" I said, the side of my mouth pulling into a grin._

_She stood, setting down her glass, and walked over to me, sitting on the arm of the large chair I was in. "I don't much like living under the rule of the Dark Lord."_

"_Blasphemy!" I exclaimed. "The Dark Lord would have your head for such a statement!"_

"_Only if he finds out, which I highly doubt." Mira ran her finger along my cheek. "But what of you, Lucius? Are you content with answering the Dark Lord's every command? Do you enjoy acting on his desires, and not your own? I mean…" Mira wrapped her arm around my shoulders and motioned with her free hand to draw my attention ahead of me—to my future. "You would be a servant all your life under him. But you deserve so much more! You have dedicated your life to him; you even lost your wife due to your service to him."_

"_I have given him a great deal…" I muttered, eyeing the diary._

"_Precisely," Mira breathed in my ear. "And you cannot tell me that you have never considered it," she said, drawing her pale hand across my chest. "You cannot claim that you never desired it."_

_Wrapping a hand around the hand on my chest, I said, "You are a manipulative one, aren't you?" I chuckled. "I have of course, desired it, considered it…" I brought her hand to my lips. "And, my dear, used you to begin to claim it."_

_Mira's eyes flashed, first angrily, then with amusement. "And you call me manipulative!"_

"_I still say you are."_

I smiled softly at the memory and took one of Mira's hands. "I remember." I looked up at the vampire and grinned. "You are a manipulative one."


	5. Takeover

What was I doing? Plotting to take over, to overthrow the Dark Lord himself? And Mira, this vampire friend of mine…of Narcissa's…was aiding me willingly in that quest. Apparently, only the diary and Nagini remained. I pretended that the Dark Lord had confided in me about Nagini when I mentioned her and realized that Mira did not know that Nagini was a Horcrux. I was not ready to admit to her, or to anyone, that I remembered an entirely different reality.

Mira was extremely kind—and everything she told me rung true. I managed to get by each day at work and each meeting with the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters without slipping up, mostly due to her aid. I was very concerned about trusting Mira, but it seemed that I had previously trusted her with my life before—I had no choice but to do so again.

Dobby was also very helpful, both in helping me with remembering the past and what was expected of me as well as simply being a wonderful servant. All it took was a 'please' or 'thank you' thrown in every dozen or so commands and he was overcome with joy.

But something was worrying me. I was going to make my move to take over very soon, yet I was still struggling to remember the past of this reality. If I failed, or if Mira did not accomplish her end, I was dead. I found it difficult to trust Mira so much…she could easily allow the Dark Lord time to discover my treachery, kill me, and then she could kill the Dark Lord for herself.

Mira did not seem to have any aspirations to be the one to actually kill the Dark Lord, although she was the one dong most of the work in helping me try to achieve it. But Mira was still a mystery to me. Even as I remembered more about her, the way she spoke, the way she influenced me…it all made her all the more mysterious, as well as dangerous.

I was afraid of her. She seemed in control of her thirst for blood, and she had been completely loyal to me, thus far. Sometimes I think that she was attempting to make up for the loss of my wife with her kindness and loyalty. But Mira could go from pleasant to frightening in seconds.

Although our relationship was not romantic in any way, Draco once referred to her as "father's whore." Draco did not mean for anyone to hear the comment, of course, and he did not even know that Mira was nearby at the time, but I feared for my son's life when I saw how her eyes flashed in anger at this comment. It took all my strength to hold her back as she hissed at him and tried to attack him, and I feared that I might one day accidentally turn her anger toward myself.

The Dark Lord was committing utter atrocities daily. He had already taken over the entire United Kingdom. Muggles were fully aware of the existence of wizards now, and they were completely terrified. They had good reason to be. The Dark Lord's armies and followers were able to fend off every attack that the rest of the world sent at them with few or no causalities. It was amazing how powerful we were against the Muggles.

Yet they kept attacking anyway. I could understand why, in a way—the Dark Lord was extremely brutal, randomly hurting or killing Muggles simply because they were Muggles, as well as having far too much "fun" with those who caused trouble. His rule was terrifying to those who were not on his good side.

The Dark Lord's brutality is what caused me to decide to go through with the plan Mira and I had apparently come up with previously, even though I still had doubts about Mira's loyalty. As Mira repeatedly pointed out, I would not be such a brutal ruler as the Dark Lord, and I could not disagree with that. I still had some morals, some form of conscience.

The plan required precise timing. I had to be alone with the Dark Lord, but at the same time be able to alert Mira to what I was doing. We planned to use Dobby as a messenger or sorts, and then as soon as I slay Nagini, Mira would destroy the diary using Gryffindor's sword, which we had apparently been using it to destroy the other Horcruxes.

"It's ridiculous," I said, nodding my head in agreement to something the Dark Lord had told me. I was a bit distant; my eyes followed Nagini around the room. It was the day.

Dobby suddenly appeared. "Anything Dobby can get for you, sirs?" he asked.

I nodded. It was time.

O O O

I had to admit, I was expecting to be dead the night of the takeover. I was surprised to find that many of the Death Eaters had no real problem with the transfer of power. The few who did were killed; my sister-in-law was one of them. Not on my orders, but simply during the battle. The Order somehow seemed to know of my plan to takeover, or at least some of the timing, for they attacked very shortly after the Dark Lord was dead, knowing that the Death Eaters were momentarily at their weakest. The Order was defeated, of course, and they quickly went back into hiding. But we had heavy casualties.

I lost my son in that battle.

Mira and I sat in silence, watching the flames flickering in the fireplace.

"I'm sorry," she said for what was likely to be the hundredth time.

I shook my head. I was not sure why she kept blaming herself for it. True, she had been nearby when it happened, but so had I, and I had not seen it coming. "I think the spell was meant for me. It's my fault."

"No, Lucius, it isn't." Mira was suddenly by my side, kneeling next to my chair and holding my hand. "You won, Lucius," she said quietly, lifting my hand to her face and brushing her lips across my fingers. "You'll be a far better ruler than the Dark Lord. You can have anything you want now. There's no one who can stop you."

"That's what the Dark Lord believed," I said softly. "It isn't supposed to be this way…my wife and son…" Mira's brow furrowed as I began mumbling about how life was "not supposed to be like this."

"Lucius, I think you need to lie down. You must be exhausted."

"No. Yes. I mean…" I turned to look at her and was trapped in her dark eyes. Oh, how I wanted to trust her with the truth…but she would probably believe me to be insane.

"You have been behaving rather strangely, Lucius," Mira said quietly, tracing down the side of my face with a pale finger. _I know_.

I leaned closer to her, holding both her hands in my own. "Mira…I think…" I sighed. "Please don't believe that I am going mad. I know I'm not."

"I never said—."

"The world is not supposed to be this way," I interrupted. My grip on her hands tightened as I pleaded with my eyes for her to listen to me. "The Dark Lord should have been defeated years ago. My wife and son should be alive."

"Lucius, I really think you need some rest." She tried to stand, but I kept a firm hold on her hands.

"Mira, listen to me. You are the only one I can trust; I've trusted you with my life, and now I'm asking you to trust _me._ This life is not right."

"Lucius, you won."

I closed my eyes, trying to keep calm. _She's not going to believe me._ "Mira, please. Life is not supposed to be this way. I remember another…reality." Mira tried to back away, clearly believing that I had lost my mind. "Mira…"

"Prove it."

I stared at her in surprise. Was it possible that some part of her believed me? "How?"

"Pensieve," she replied. "You can show me. I know how to tell if a memory has been altered. I'll know if you're lying or if someone modified your memory."

Mira pulled me from my chair. I did not move, unsure of where Pensieve would be in my Manor. I didn't recall having Pensieve. Mira seemed to realize this, and she gently tugged on my hand and led me upstairs and to the library. Mira opened a cabinet near the window and took out a bowl of the silvery liquid that could help me prove I was not lying. She set it onto a small table and beckoned me with a pale finger.

My heart raced as I approached. What if my memories of the other reality would not appear in the Pensieve of this one? Or what if I was wrong—what if I was going mad? I drew my wand and concentrated on some of the memories I wished to show to Mira.

We both watched the wisps of silver as they floated down and into the pool of memories. I took Mira's hand, and together we leaned into the Pensieve.


	6. The Right Reality

Chapter 6: The Right Reality

"Where are we?"

I peered around at the dark trees surrounding us. I then pointed to a clearing just ahead. "We're in the Forbidden Forest by Hogwarts. Look, there!"

My darling wife and I were seated together, and we both appeared rather ill. We were fearfully watching the red-eyed, pale man that I knew to be the Dark Lord.

"Who is that?" Mira asked, walking up to the Dark Lord and examining his face.

"That is the Dark Lord," I answered darkly. Mira turned to me incredulously, an eyebrow arched in disbelief.

"You aren't serious."

"I thought he would come," said the Dark Lord. "I expected him to come."

Mira walked back to where I was standing and staring at my wife. "Who is he talking about, Lucius?"

I put a finger to my lips and pointed to a shadow none of the Death Eaters had yet noticed in the trees.

"I was, it seems…mistaken."

"You weren't."

A teenage boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes stepped into the firelight.

"That, my friend, is Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived."

The memory faded and we were suddenly in a large, dark room full of tall shelves. I tried to follow the figures of Bellatrix and I, but Mira pulled me back.

"Who the hell is Harry Potter?"

"An obnoxious little brat who always managed to mess up the Dark Lord's plans," I answered, grabbing Mira's arm and leading her to where I was about to confront Potter. "And the boy who killed him. Twice. He's the reason why the Dark Lord needed to be brought back to life in the first place."

Mira stared at me in shock. "A mere boy defeated him?"

"Potter is amazingly lucky and has talented friends."

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me," I watched myself tell the Potter of the past.

I shook my head as I watched myself speaking with the group of children. "This is the time I lost my favor with the Dark Lord, for I failed to retrieve that prophecy in Potter's hand."

"You _lost_ favor? You?" Mira asked skeptically.

Suddenly we were standing in the graveyard where the Dark Lord had been brought back to life. "Lucius, my slippery friend," said the Dark Lord. "I am told you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face."

"What's with the cauldron?" Mira whispered. "And that Potter boy again?" she added, eyeing the teenager.

"Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius…" the Dark Lord continued, his red eyes in dangerous slits. I shuddered at the memory.

"This is the night the Dark Lord was brought back to life. This is two years after I apparently brought him back in your reality."

"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," my past self said. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately…"

Mira's brow furrowed. "I always thought the Dark Lord was handsome. Why does he look like this?" She looked back to Harry Potter and took a few steps towards him. "He doesn't look like a threat. Why didn't the Dark Lord just kill him here?"

"As I said, Potter is amazingly lucky."

"So in this reality, you didn't bring the Dark Lord back? But then, what happened? What was different that made you fail?" asked Mira.

Headmaster Dumbledore's study materialized around us. Mira gazed around, taking in all the trinkets and portraits. "Interesting place." She cocked her head to the side as she watched a young boy make his way toward the door of the room. "Is that Potter again? He's like, ten."

"Twelve," I corrected automatically. "Foiled by a twelve year old, how embarrassing…"

The door suddenly burst open violently, revealing the past me as well as Dobby. Mira grinned, her fangs gleaming. "Look at you!" she exclaimed with glee. "You look so young. I guess stress must have gotten to you these past few years," she continued, looking me over as I glared at her. "You also appear very angry…both of you."

"So! You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts," my past self said to Dumbledore.

"Who is the old man?" asked Mira. "He looks familiar."

"Professor Dumbledore, the only wizard the Dark Lord ever feared back in the day. You probably saw him on a chocolate frog card. I suppose he must have died shortly after this in the other reality," I said; after all, no one had ever mentioned Dumbledore or Potter.

"Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place," said Dumbledore casually.

Mira glared at the image of Dumbledore. "That was a bit rude! Such accusations!"

I coughed. "It was also a little bit true," I admitted with a wince.

As Dumbledore held up Tom Riddle's diary, Mira gasped. "That's the book! The Horcrux! What happened to it?"

"Harry Potter destroyed it with a basilisk fang," I quickly explained, eyeing the hole pierced clean through the diary.

We pulled out of the Pensieve and found ourselves back in my library by the window. I did not know what else to show Mira, and I had suddenly realized the significance of the final memory.

"And that is when everything changed," I said slowly. "Somehow, in the other reality, your reality…"

"It's not _my _reality, it _is _reality," Mira said with a snarl.

"I just showed you what was supposed to happen! None of this is real. Narcissa and Draco should be alive. The war should have been over years ago. It ended the night of the first memory – Potter won, he defeated the Dark Lord. The memories weren't fake, were they?" I paused, fearing that Mira would say that yes, in fact, they were false, that his memory had been altered. But she allayed my fears as she slowly shook her head.

"No. They weren't. You really do remember those events."

Putting a hand over my eyes, I shook my head with a chuckle. "Thank goodness. I thought I was losing my mind."

"You aren't the only one with memories other than this reality, you know."

Startled, I turned sharply to the woman, who was staring down at the Pensieve as though avoiding my gaze. "You remember another reality, too?" I inquired. Mira said nothing as she began walking away from me through some bookshelves. "Mira, what do you remember?" I asked, following her. "Is this why you believed me?"

"Yes it is and you don't want to know what I remember."

"Mira." I reached out and grasped her arm, holding her back. "Why don't I want to know?"

"I'm a half-breed, Lucius," Mira said quietly. "I couldn't go to Hogwarts. I was tormented all my life, forced to live underground with vampires and werewolves and half-giants and all sorts of folk. It isn't a side of the magical world you purebloods normally see." She took a deep breath, continuing to avoid my gaze. "I have memories of the Ministry…not this one, not under the Dark Lord's control, the other one…it was even worse. The Dark Lord gave us all a chance to join him – the Ministry of the _other _reality…we're just monsters to them. Vermin. Can't find work, can't have friends. And we're blamed for everything."

"That will change," I said quietly. "The Ministry will change."

"Under you it will. But not in that other world." Mira pulled her arm from my grasp and left the library, leaving me in silence. I gazed around at my magnificent collection of books. Perhaps one of them would hold the key to changing history. If I could just change it so that the Dark Lord did not come back to life early, then everything would turn out all right. My family would suffer instead of being heroes, but it was only temporary. In the end, we survived.

It was after midnight by the time Mira returned to the library. Time had flown by me without me even noticing as I poured through every book I could find with any references to time.

"What are you doing?" Mira asked. "What are all these books for?"

I closed one book and reached for another in a stack from the floor. "Research." Mira picked up one of the discarded books and started flipping through it. She suddenly threw the book to the ground, causing me to jump in surprise. "That was unnecessary," I said coolly, looking back to the book in my hands.

"You're trying to figure out how to change the past. This is reality, Lucius. What makes you think that your other memories are what was supposed to happen?"

"It has to be. I remember it. It feels more real than this one."

"Only to you," Mira said sharply. "Maybe this is the right one, and we just remember the wrong one. Maybe that's _why_ this reality exists, because the other one was wrong. By Merlin, Lucius, what else do you want? You have the magical world at your fingertips. You defeated the Dark Lord. You are the Minister of Magic. You're going to make everything right, remember?" Mira prompted. "We have plans, you and I."

I picked up another book and began skimming through the chapter titles. "Yeah, I was going to do the things I've never support in my reality. Muggles and wizards all getting along, Mudbloods being equal to purebloods. No more Muggle killings. No more legal prejudice against vampires and werewolves and other half-breeds. Everybody's equal. I have absolute power, and I know how to use it correctly. And you know what, Mira? I would gladly trade it all to have my wife and son back. I don't give a damn about this reality."

The room grew cold, a bitter breeze brushing against my face. As I looked up at Mira, I realized: I had crossed a line. In fact, I had probably strayed over the line a few minutes before during my rant about what I never supported before. The fury in Mira's eyes was utterly terrifying. Her eyes became a deep, blood red as she bared her teeth at me, her expression one of an animal about to capture its prey.

"Shit."


	7. Bloodlust

Chapter 7: Bloodlust

I thought that I had known fear standing in the presence of the Dark Lord while he was angry with me. I thought that terror was being trapped in Azkaban with dementors torturing me with every darkness in my mind and every wrongdoing from my past, sucking every last bit of happiness from me. But nothing could compared to the horror I experienced under Mira's hungry gaze. Panic froze me in place in the armchair, my hands shaking as I tried to put the book in my hands down. The vampire's eyes were like windows to the dark fires of hell, like a reminder of where she would soon send me.

I had never faced a vampire like this before. Never had I been so close to one, but now, in a flash, I understood the stories, the laws restricting their kind, the culture closing them out and keeping them at arm's length. I had never associated with any half-breeds, with reasons of not wanting to contaminate myself or lower myself – but that was all pureblood arrogant nonsense. _This_ was the real reason to avoid her kind. This gaze full of anger, hunger, lust, and evil of the likes I had never seen, even in the Dark Lord's own eyes.

"Mira…"

"You promised me you would change things." Mira's tongue ran over her sharp teeth. "You and Narcissa were the only friends I had in the world, and I thought you could make it a little bit better." I was still unable to move, both because of fear and of some paralyzing effect Mira's gaze seemed to have on me. "But you would betray me, betray everything in this world?"

"I-I just want Narcissa…I want Draco…I want them back," I stammered, ice-cold air hurting my lungs as I struggled to breathe. "Please, that world is better off than this one. I want to help."

"I've lived in _that_ world. It's worse."

"Mira…"

"You don't give a damn about me," she growled.

I shook my head as best as I could. "No, I do, I do, Mira."

"Au contraire, you said you didn't." Mira tilted her head to one side as she studied him, her eyebrow arched. "Everything I've done for you…killed your enemies, destroyed the Horcruxes, got you ultimate power…and this is my thanks? You want to erase everything we've done?"

"Mira, please…I am your friend. I-I didn't mean to anger you."

The vampire threw back her head and laughed, the sound both musically pleasant and somehow painful to hear. "I've controlled myself so well around you. Even when you angered me…but tonight…you just chose the wrong day."

Mira closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When her eyes closed, I was able to move again, but I only had a moment to stand before her eyes opened and focused on me once again.

"Do you have any idea how exquisitely sweet you smell, Lucius?"

I swallowed with difficulty and eyed a small paper cut I had received on my right hand while flipping through the books. The tiniest amount of blood had risen to the surface.

Mira took another deep breath. "Oh, how perfect you're going to taste."

"Mira," I said, trembling as the vampire approached me. "Mira, please…"

No wonder I had always felt apprehensive around Mira, if a small paper cut could drive her to this.

"It's not the cut, silly, that only aids the bloodlust."

I gasped. It was as though Mira had read my mind. Finally I forced my feet to stumble backwards away from her.

"Have you ever faced a vampire, Lucius?"

"No."

Mira's eyes were still blood red, vicious and ravenous. "We half-breeds – part vampire, part wizard – have a strange little side-effect. The more kills, the more people we suck dry, the more powerful we get. More than that - if we can drink enough blood in one day, we become more powerful than you and the rest of your kind can possibly imagine. It's every half-blood vampire's dream, really." She stepped closer. "It's why wizards are terrified of us."

Stumbling backwards again, I reached behind me for the door handle, knowing that I was somewhere nearby the entrance of the library, but I dared not turn away from Mira to find it.

"We need seven wizards drunk dry. But there's a catch."

"Of course there is, isn't there always?" I stammered. My hand found the door handle and grasped it.

Mira's eyes glinted as she grinned. "The final wizard needs to be powerful…and they have to be someone the vampire loves."

"I can see why friends may be difficult to come by," I muttered.

"And I do love you, Lucius, my dear friend," Mira continued, ignoring my stuttering remarks. "That's why I was willing to do anything for you. But now…can you guess how many people I drunk dry today while helping you overthrow the Dark Lord, Lucius?"

The darkness, the fire, the hungry gaze aimed at me – it was obvious what came next. "Shit," I breathed, pushing open the door and bolting, my legs shaking as I forced them to run down the hall and down the stairs, nearly tripping over my feet and tumbling down. As soon as I reached the ground floor I made toward the front door, only to find Mira in my way.

"Surprise," she said with a grin.

Backing frantically away from her, I stumbled into the dining room. "Dobby!" I cried out. "Help!"

Dobby appeared out of nowhere with a loud 'crack.' "Yes, Master?" But as soon as Mira entered the room, Dobby's eyes widened. "Sorry, Master, nothing can be done to stop the bloodlust, sir."

"He's lying," Mira whispered.

I turned around to see Mira on her knees at the entrance to the dining room. She slowly raised her head to look up at me. Her eyes were no longer windows into hell. In fact, her eyes seemed to be glistening with tears. The bloodlust must have been some sort of primordial instinct controlling her – she had no choice, but she was fighting.

"Your wand, Lucius. Use it. You have to kill me." She closed her eyes and snarled as she got back to her feet. "Or I'll kill you first," she hissed, her eyes once again dark and hungry.

I fumbled in my cloak for a moment, drawing my wand and holding it between us just before Mira pounced. She eyed the wand warily with her predatory eyes, standing mere feet away from me. "_Stupify!_" The spell merely bounced harmlessly off of her, prompting Mira to laugh. Her fangs glistened.

"_Incarcerous!_"

Rope appeared from the tip of my wand and wrapped around Mira, who merely flexed her muscles and easily tore them apart.

Hand shaking, I raised my wand again. "_Avada…"_

_Mira pulled me around the corner of Gringotts, the green spell harmlessly shattering a lamppost instead of hitting me. "You're welcome," she said to my bewildered face. "Looked like you could use a rescue."_

"_You're not supposed to be here. What if _he _sees you?"_

_Mira grinned, revealing her sharp teeth just before her body vanished before my eyes. "I'm going to rob the bank for you. You know that no one has ever succeeded in stealing from Gringotts before."_

"_Why the hell are you going to rob the bank? I'm filthy rich!" I exclaimed, throwing up a series of defensive spells to keep anyone from rounding the corner and finding us._

"_The Cup, Lucius. I know where it is. Bellatrix has it in her vault."_

"_You're bloody mad is what you are. Where are you?" I asked in annoyance, looking around at the air speaking to me._

_Mira laughed. "I may not come out of there alive, but I _will_ destroy that Cup before they can take me out. I promise."_

_Before I could protest, something soft touched my lips and then disappeared. "Mira? Mira!"_

I blinked as I remembered.

_We were taking a walk about the courtyard, arm-in-arm. It was night and the moon was full. It was one of those quiet times when the Order was regrouping in hiding and there was little happening to occupy our time. I savored these moments once with Narcissa, but now she was gone. A tear escaped my eye as I blinked._

_Mira reached over and gently wiped the tear away._

"_It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"_

_I forced a small smile and nodded. One of the white peacocks came out of a nearby hedge, its tail looking like a ghost in the dark. I stopped and knelt down beside it. "I got these for Narcissa. I thought they would make an impressive gift." I held out my hand, hoping to touch the peacock. "She loved them. Thought they were the prettiest creatures on earth." I gasped and pulled back my hand when the peacock pecked it, tearing a small bit of flesh from my finger in the process._

_Mira got onto her knees beside me. "Are you all right? Did that hurt?"_

"_Only a little. It was more of a shock, really."_

"_You're bleeding," Mira stated under her breath._

_Looking into her eyes I saw a flash of lust for blood. I had seen it before in battle and when my son had made her angry, but never had she looked at me with her dark, hungry gaze, with her eyes blood red._

_Mira closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath, running her tongue over her upper lip. She opened her eyes, and the lust was gone. They were still dark, but normal for her. I was in no danger now._

_After a moment's hesitation, I held out my hand to her. Mira's eyes flickered down to my hand, my offering, and back up to my eyes. She was surprised, astonished, in fact, that I would do something so imprudent – or perhaps generous._

_And I was entirely unafraid._

"_No," she said quietly, getting back to her feet. "I can't take the risk."_

I closed my eyes as I remembered, and I realized:

_**I remembered everything.**_

Every moment from the Dark Lord coming back to life through his old diary to my current predicament suddenly flooded my mind. Mira no longer felt like the dangerous stranger I had risked trusting. She was a close friend, confidante, and most loyal supporter. Unlike everyone else, she served me out of love, not fear. She had held back her lust for blood around me for years.

I remembered a night in the candlelight, shortly before all the multiple-reality confusion began, when we dined and danced in celebration of my new post as Minister of Magic. It had been the night that I finally admitted it to myself – I was in love with Mira.

"_Keda…"_

The killing curse faded on my lips and I lowered my wand. I could not kill Mira now, not now that I remembered everything we had been through together. Not now that I remembered… After a moment, I let the wand slip from my hand and fall to the floor.

I closed my eyes as Mira leapt at me, her fangs sinking into my throat.


	8. No One

Chapter 8: No One

It was so painful. Blood being drawn from my neck into Mira was both the strangest and most agonizing sensation I had ever experienced. My throat throbbed, desperately fighting the loss of blood. I collapsed against the wall behind me as my strength seeped away. My legs no longer supported my weight, but Mira must have been holding my body up to the wall. I had not expected it to be like this. No, I did not believe it would be painless, but I had believed it would not last this long. It felt like an eternity – the pressure on my neck was slowly increasing and my lungs gasped desperately for breath. Yet I was still here, still alive, still breathing.

Despite the pain, it was not so bad as far as dying goes. There was almost a pleasurable sensation that was spreading out from her bite, a tingling feeling stimulating every part of my body. I tried to think appropriate final thoughts – thoughts about the world I remembered, with Narcissa and Draco safe.

_But what about Mira?_ I did not know her in the other reality. While the fact she was draining my blood and killing me should have removed any warm feelings for her, I did care about her, deeply. She had done everything she could for me in this reality.

I slid down the wall. Her fangs were still in my throat, and my body was going numb. I could no longer feel any other sensations beyond the throbbing in my neck. My eyes remained closed as Mira moved me onto my back on the floor, climbing on top of me and continuing to drink. Everything felt cold, and even the pain was going away…

And then my eyes opened.

I was in my bedroom. A fire flickered from across the room in the fireplace. It was still cold, although I was underneath soft blankets, and I was still numb. I flexed my hand, trying to get some circulation and feeling into them. Concentrating all of my strength, I moved my hand up to my neck. My skin felt so cold it was like touching stone. Running my fingers along the puncture wounds, I was assured that I had not dreamed the whole thing.

A chair scrapped on the floor of the room, and suddenly Mira was standing over me. She grasped my hand, kissing it gently. "Lucius…how are you feeling?"

"Why aren't I dead?" I asked, my throat burning.

"Here, drink some water, it'll help." With inhuman strength, she lifted me up and moved me so I was leaning up against the headboard of my bed. Handing me a glass of water, I took a chance to look into her eyes. The bloodlust was gone, replaced by worry and what appeared to be fear. She helped me hold the glass up to my mouth for me to take a drink. Eagerly, I downed it all. As soon as I was finished, Mira took a few steps away from me.

"Shouldn't I be dead?" I asked again. Feeling my throat again, a dreadful thought occurred to me. "Am I…like you?"

"When I came back to my senses, I considered it," Mira explained quietly, turning away from me and looking out the window. "But no. I didn't want to condemn you to what I'm already living." She turned back to me and studied me curiously, tilting her head slightly. "You didn't kill me."

I felt my lips crack as I smiled slightly. "I couldn't."

"I could have killed you. I nearly did. It was so bloody difficult to stop…so much power was within my grasp…and you're barely half-alive as it is." Mira looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry. I couldn't even take you to a Healer. I'd be locked up – probably killed – for attacking a wizard, especially the Minister of Magic…"

"I remember, Mira," I interrupted. "I remember everything we've been through together. The night Narcissa brought you home, when we first met – you had been attacked by that werewolf…Fenrir Greyback."

"You two nursed me back to health," she said with a small smile.

"The first night you had the strength to walk you insisted on dining with us. Watching you eat terrified Draco."

"I remember," Mira said with a slight grin.

"The night…the night after _she_ died. You somehow broke through the enchantments and came into the Manor, and wisely brought a bottle of firewhiskey." I sighed heavily, remembering the worst night of my life. "I've never seen you cry besides then. I didn't know you could."

"Narcissa was my best friend. Until you, she was my only friend." A sad smile graced Mira's lips as her eyes began to shine with tears.

Putting my hand to my neck again, I realized that I could feel heat coming from my body. I was indeed recovering. "I saw you kill a man. He threatened to kill me, he had his wand out before I could react, and suddenly there you were."

"Any enemy was fair game for a meal," Mira said, running her tongue along her teeth.

"Then you were my personal assassin."

"Your secret weapon."

"After all we've done, all we've been through…and I only just realized…" I stopped myself short as Mira looked at me quizzically.

"Realized what, Lucius?"

Apparently I had forgotten something about this reality. I had felt guilty for so long about having feelings beyond friendship for Mira, that I had only recently accepted the fact that I did love her. And I certainly had not told her. "Nothing," I said quickly. "I'm a little…confused. Having two sets of memories and being a vampire's dinner is enough to boggle even my superior mind," I explained with a small smile, hoping to distract Mira.

Mira coughed uncomfortably. "I'm so sorry, Lucius. I am sorry," she said, her voice cracking.

"You explained it while you were…you know, and I understand. I got you really angry at a really unfortunate time. I never should have said…any of that. I'm sorry." I wondered how much danger I was in now; could she go back into the bloodlust at any time? "I was a different person without knowing you in the other reality, and I'm sorry." I gazed through the window and realized that the sun was setting. It had certainly been longer than a day now for Mira's time limit. I was safe, or at least a little bit safer.

"You're not safe around me, Lucius. Not anymore."

Again Mira shocked me in appearing to read my mind.

"Why not? You've been controlling your thirst around me for years, even when I bleed!"

"It's different now." Mira's eyes glistened with tears as she turned away. "And now that you are better, I'm going to have to leave. I'll ask Dobby to send for a Healer."

"Wait a moment, Mira!" Mira paused a few steps away from the bedroom door. "You'll come back soon, right? You only need to quench your thirst or something…don't you?"

Mira turned to me, her dark eyes filled with sadness. Slowly, she shook her head. "No. Goodbye, Lucius." She walked out the door, closing it behind her.

"Wait!" I struggled out of the bed, collapsing onto the floor as my legs refused to do their job. I crawled, as humiliating as it felt, to the door and used the handle to help myself back to my feet as I opened the door. "Mira! Why?" I called out, knowing that Mira could easily already be gone.

At first I was met by silence, and then the reply came from the staircase. "You taste too good. Too damn perfect."

A few moments later, the front door slammed.

"But Mira, I remember…and I have no one."

_I have no one_.


	9. Extermination

Chapter 9: Extermination

Dobby brought a Healer to me merely moments after Mira's departure. The Healer immediately sent an owl to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures about my attack and injuries. I claimed ignorance of the attacker's identity, and said I had been attacked in my sleep.

Soon after, some of the new selection of Aurors chosen by the new Death Eater controlled Ministry were combing the grounds in searched of evidence as to how a vampire could have broken past the enchantments on the Minister for Magic's home.

"We have multiple vampires on the books from before we controlled the Ministry. It is difficult for a blood-sucking monster to go unnoticed for long. We will intensify our search for the creatures and round them all up."

"Round them up for identification? It's unnecessary, I couldn't identify the attacker if I wanted," I said.

"Identification?" the Auror McNair said with a laugh. "They're animals! We'll just exterminate them."

No matter how I insisted that this course not continue, the Ministry ignored its Minister. Clearly I was delirious after my near-death experience and unable to make rational decisions, and I was thus ignored.

But I promised Mira. The world would be better with me as Minister – but I could do nothing as stories about captured vampires circulated in the _Daily Prophet._ The Healer had insisted on at least a week off of work. Dobby, insistent on doing what was best for my health, refused to let me leave the manor. And each morning I read the paper, fearing for Mira's life as I read the stories of captures and killings of vampires. Each time a female one was mentioned, I was certain that it was Mira, and that I had ruined everything for her because I had provoked her.

When I was finally able to return to work, I again ordered the killings to be stopped. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures finally consented to not killing vampires as they found them, but insisted that Veritaserum be used on each one to see which one had attacked me so they could be put to death. The rest would be locked up forever.

I went to the lower levels of the Ministry at the end of every week, and each vampire would have Veritaserum forced down their throats before being asked if they had attacked me. Mira continued to elude the Aurors, assuming that she had survived the initial searches. I hoped with all my heart that she had escaped.

It was incredible how many vampires existed in Britain. Of course, about half insisted that they were not vampires, and many seemed to be telling the truth. The Aurors did not seem to care. I was reminded of the ancient witch-hunts, when mainly Muggles were found guilty and killed instead of real witches and wizards.

I tried to convince them to give up their search – after all, they had possibly killed my attacker during their initial hunts. Begrudgingly, the Aurors agreed to stop putting the vampires in prison, but insisted on continuing to round up vampires for the purposes of records and, just in case, would test each one with Veritaserum.

Every week, I was thankful when Mira was not one of the captured vampires.

After a few weeks of no vampires found, I was again nervous to find that there was one to test. She was brought in with a black bag over her head, chains encircling her as she was forced to her knees in the middle of the room.

"This one was found in the Department of Mysteries earlier today. Says her name is Eliza. She seemed to be after this." The Auror held out a Time-Turner to me, which I took inquisitively. "She will be killed for this intrusion, of course, but just in case she is the one who attacked you…"

"We needn't be so hard on a mere thief, Mr. McNair," I said.

Another Auror pulled off the black bag viciously, pulling the woman's head back and eliciting a small cry. The woman curled up slightly as though trying to hide away. I wondered momentarily what the Aurors had done to her, but all thoughts slipped from my mind as the woman slowly looked at me.

Mira met my gaze unwaveringly.

"Minister," she said quietly, her voice raspy.

The Auror kicked her in the side. "Do not speak until spoken to!" he ordered, and suddenly two thugs came from the darkness to hold her head back and her mouth open as Veritaserum was poured down her throat. More than a few such men had already been lost to vampires choosing to get one last bite before a swift death. Whether Mira took this path or not, her fate would be the same. She was indeed the vampire they hoped to find.

My chest tightened as I panicked. What could I possibly do?

"You are the vampire Eliza?" Auror McNair asked.

Mira's breath quickened. She was fighting the potion, desperately. At last, she opened her mouth to respond. "No," she said weakly.

My heart dropped like a stone as I realized that Mira could not fight the truth serum. She would die for attacking me, the man who promised her a better world. My foolishness had led to this. I had destroyed her with my desire to return to some other reality instead of appreciating what I had in this one.

"Who are you?" McNair asked.

Mira said nothing, her dark eyes focused intently on me. I knew what she was thinking – I had betrayed her, betrayed everything, after all. But I had no control over it – the Death Eaters who now controlled the Ministry insisted on revenge and the safety of their new world from creatures like her. I may have been feared, but my word was not law as the Dark Lord's had been.

I had seen Mira at her most dangerous, her most evil; I of all people knew why vampires were to be hated. Yet I could not hate Mira. She had not killed me, even at her darkest. She was not a dangerous animal to be slaughtered. I had to do something to save her.

"Mira," she admitted quietly. Her eyes continued to bore into my soul.

McNair pulled out a parchment and skimmed over it. "Mira…we have no record of a vampire Mira…" He began to write down some notes.

"There should be no record of her," I said suddenly, my mind racing to come up with plausible reasoning. "She was instrumental to the pureblood takeover of the Ministry. She is not to be known. She is not the one. She is to be released immediately, and no record of her capture will remain. Is that understood?"

"Sir, I'm afraid we can't do that."

"I'm the Minister, damn it!" I exclaimed in anger. "Of course you can." If only they feared me as they feared their old master.

"We can't rule her out on those grounds, sir. If she isn't the one we will follow your orders. If she almost killed you, however, we can't," McNair insisted. "We can't let someone get away with almost killing the new Minister, sir. Anyone left sympathetic to the Order could use a successful attack as inspiration for a new movement."

"Did you attack the Minister for Magic?" the other Auror asked, pulling a wooden stake from inside his cloak.

I stepped forward instinctively as the Auror again asked, "Did you attack this man? Answer!" Stepping forward again, McNair grabbed my arm. "Don't get too close, sir. She's still dangerous, as docile as she may seem now."

"Did you attack him?" The Auror was growing impatient, and he pressed a wooden stake to Mira's heart threateningly. My own heart pounded with fear

Mira finally opened her mouth, running her tongue over her lips. Her eyes never left mine. "Yes."

My heart cried out at this admission as the Auror at her side suddenly forced her to the ground and, before I could even blink, pushed the stake into her heart.

Mira's eyes widened for a moment, still locked onto mine, before they suddenly paled. A single tear escaped the corner of her eye.

I struggled to breathe. I faintly heard one of the men apologizing for allowing me to see the swift execution without warning. Collapsing to my knees, I looked at Mira's body with difficulty. She had done everything for me. And I had done nothing for her. I had failed. I had never even told her how much I cared about her.

Then I looked down at the Time-Turner in my hand. She had broken into the Ministry during the most dangerous time she could have, just to get her hands onto this item. "But why?" I breathed. Had she wanted to go to a time before she attacked me? But I would still foolishly anger her – it would solve nothing. Before we overthrew the Dark Lord?

I looked back to Mira's body and a dangerous thought occurred to me.

I drew my wand. The Aurors backed away, asking what they had done wrong. They had only been doing their duty in protecting me – was I angry that I had not had my revenge?

"Oh, I'll have my revenge," I said darkly.

The Time-Turner pressed into my sweating hand as I committed murder, a crime that would soon be undone.


	10. Twisting Time

Chapter 10: Twisting Time

The bodies of the Aurors disappeared as people seemed to swirl around me before all suddenly coming to a stop. I was alone in the lower levels. Eyeing the ground where Mira had been (or would be) lying dead, I swallowed with difficulty. "Dobby!"

My house-elf appeared at my side instantly, his big eyes wide with wonder. "Master…? But you were at home!"

I held up the Time-Turner. "Dobby, this is a matter of life and death – I need you to watch the Department of Mysteries. Mira will break in sometime today. When she does, immediately bring her to the Manor."

"I understand, sir." Dobby vanished.

Taking a deep breath, I made my way up to the main floor and left the Ministry. Now all I had to do was wait, and hopefully avoid running into myself. Not wanting to wander about London alone, I Apparated back to my Manor, keeping hidden among the trees in the garden to avoid accidentally finding my other self in my household. One of the white peacocks approached me as I sat in the garden and pecked at my hand. It tore my flesh just slightly, and I simply stared at the blood on my fingertip for a few minutes, thinking about Mira and hoping that I would successfully save her.

Once I knew the other me had left the Manor for work, I went inside. It was far too empty and quiet, and there was nothing to do but wait until Dobby returned.

Each minute felt like hours as I watched the grandfather clock in the parlor. As the time edged closer to Mira's death, I feared that Dobby had failed to get to Mira before the Aurors. I touched the Time-Turner about my neck, wondering if I should turn back time even further. But then three of me would exist at one time in one location – that was far too dangerous. I could go mad.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud "crack!", and Dobby appeared in the foyer, holding Mira by the hand.

"Dobby, what have you – why have you brought me here?"

Mira turned around just in time to see me approach her. Before she could say anything else, I pulled her into my arms, holding her tightly. "Thank Merlin you're alive."

Far from pleased to see me again, Mira shoved me forcibly away, her eyes gleaming red. "Why – how did you know where I was going?" Mira stepped away from me, her eyes becoming redder. "I told you, you aren't safe around me anymore," she snarled, revealing her sharp fangs. I held up the Time-Turner and Mira's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?"

"You were caught," I stated quietly.

Mira tilted her head, confused. "What?"

"You were caught and you were forced to confess to attacking me. And then…"

"You used the Time-Turner," Mira interrupted as she began to understand. "You're from the future." Mira held out her hand. "Give me the Time-Turner, Lucius. Trust me."

I tucked the Time-Turner into my shirt. "No. Not until you tell me why."

We both jumped as someone knocked urgently on the nearby front door. Mira backed away fearfully, beginning a retreat toward the back of the house when the door suddenly flew open, and Auror McNair entered. It was more than a little disconcerting to know that I had killed him earlier that very day.

"Minister! I apologize for the intrusion. I did not know you were home."

"Do you regularly enter my household while I'm out, McNair?" I asked suspiciously. "What purpose do you have here?"

"We were alerted to by our wards in the Department of Mysteries that someone was transported – by a House-Elf, I presume, although we can't detect that – from that Department to here, your Manor." McNair looked toward Mira. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," I said quickly. "What I do in my own time is my business."

"It's my business when we find that she got into the Department of Mysteries, sir, and that she has no identity."

A small growl escaped my throat. What would I have to change in order to stop McNair's constant pestering about things he should leave alone?

"If you say that she is not a threat to the Ministry I will trust you, of course, Minister. But I will need to form a record on her. I'll need a name, parentage if known, and a blood sample so she can be identified in the future if necessary."

Mira's eyes widened. Her blood would not be as normal wizards since she was not even exactly alive. That would not do at all.

McNair suddenly drew his wand and shouted, "_Incarcerous!_" and, without another word as ropes wrapped tightly around Mira, grabbed Mira's hand and Disapparated.

After a brief moment of confusion, I ordered, "Dobby, take my hand and follow them!" as I drew my wand.

Dobby immediately obeyed, but it was too late.

Mira lay on the ground of the chamber, motionless, with a stake through her heart. McNair was alone. "I'm sorry, sir, but we knew that she was a vampire. She could have completed the job she started if I had not gotten to you in time."

"What…but…she…" This was not happening, not again. Mira could not really have just died _again_.

"You should allow the Ministry to screen all future…business partners of yours, sir. You're lucky to be alive."

I tightened my grip on my wand as I looked about the room, ensuring that we were alone and wordlessly casting a few silencing spells.

"I'm sorry I could not let you know what I was doing. I couldn't risk the vampire realizing she had been discovered. She could have tried to kill you again."

I shook my head. "No. You're not sorry. _Expelliarmus!_"

McNair's wand flew into my hand. The Auror gaped at me in horror as I raised my wand again.

"But you will be," I continued forebodingly. "_Crucio!_"

And again I killed my supporter. I knelt beside Mira's corpse, taking her stone-cold hand into mine. "I'll fix this. I promise."

Eyeing McNair's lifeless body, I felt a twinge of guilt as I once again turned back the Time-Turner.

I had it planned better this time. I knew what McNair was coming for, and he would not get it.

I went home again and traveled to the back of the Manor. There I waited until shortly before Dobby was going to return with Mira, and I broke off a leg from the breakfast set and then brought it down hard over my knee. The reverberating "crack" was enough to get my doppelganger'sattention from the parlor.

"Dobby?" I heard my own voice say. "Dobby? Mira?"

Quickly setting up spells to temporarily trap my other self within the kitchen, I ran about the servant's way back around through the dining room and to the foyer just as Dobby returned with Mira.

"Dobby, what have you - ?"

"Thank you, Dobby," I said quietly. "Mira." I again pulled her into my arms. When she tried to push me away, I held on even tighter.

"Lucius, what is going on? Let me go! You aren't safe…"

I heard her inhaling, smelling the blood she had once tasted and now appeared to crave. Wisely backing away, I held up my hands in surrender to keep her calm. "Listen carefully, Mira. I know you wanted a Time-Turner, I just don't know why."

"How did you know?" asked Mira with surprise.

"There's no time!" I insisted. "Any moment now McNair will come through that door to-to arrest you," I said, unwilling to admit the truth. "What were you going to do with it?"

Ignoring my urgent question, Mira asked, "How do you know McNair's coming here?" Mira's eyes widened. "Merlin, I'll be killed! Lucius, what have you done?"

"I'm trying to save your life! Why did you need the Time-Turner?"

Suddenly a knock echoed through the house. "Damn it!" I exclaimed, pulling out my wand. Mira began backing away towards the dining room as the door flew open.

"Minister! I apologize for the intrusion. I did not know you were home. Is anything the matter, sir?" he asked, looking at my wand.

"You have no idea."

McNair reached into his cloak, apparently believing that I was aware of Mira's identity and, in fact, in the middle of apprehending her.

"You're not getting her this time," I said quietly, raising my wand. "_Avada Kedavra!_" Again, my supporter fell dead by my hand. Three times. I had killed McNair three times that day. I hoped this was the last time.

Mira's mouth dropped open in shock as she stared at me incredulously. "He helped you against the Dark Lord, and you just murdered him!"

"Random killings always kept people in check when it came to the Dark Lord," I said smoothly, putting away my wand. "Besides, I already killed him today. Unfortunate fellow is doomed." Mira remained frozen in shock as I approached her. "I'm not going to lose you again," I said, gently reaching out to touch her cheek. As soon as my fingers brushed against her cold skin, she recoiled, her eyes flashing red.

"This isn't like you. What's happened? It's like that day…that day…" Mira trailed off as she looked into my eyes, searching for answers. "Like the day you lost Narcissa," she finished under her breath. "That's when I've seen that look. That pain, that anger, that hate…"

I backed away, blinking and forcing her to break eye contact. I did not want her to somehow know what I knew.

"What the hell is going on?" a very familiar voice said, approaching from the kitchen.

"Shit!" I swore as I remembered my other self locked away in the kitchen. I was apparently able to escape the traps I had set for myself.

"Who – Lucius – or is that Lucius…?"

I stepped forward, pulling the Time-Turner from around my neck. "Quickly, we need to escape before I run into myself. Hurry!"

Seeing the Time-Turner seemed to give Mira enough answers for her to finally listen to what I was asking of her. She stepped close and I looped the chain around both of us and swiftly turned back time once again.


	11. Trapped

Chapter 11: Trapped

The sun was rising. It was the beginning of the longest day of my life.

Mira opened her mouth, but I immediately pressed my hand over it and pulled her into the parlor. Pulling a book from the bookshelf titled _The Twisted Stair_, a small door opened beside the bookcase, and we went down a small stone stairwell and into the basement, where, in the other reality, I left my darker objects hidden until the Dark Lord had returned.

"I won't come down here this morning, and this room is soundproof. I shouldn't suspect anything," I said, removing my hand.

"Lucius, what in the name of Merlin is going on? Have you gone mad?"

For the first time, I truly focused on Mira without a haze of panic.

While her skin was abnormally pale as always, her lips were deep red, and a hint of color graced her cheeks. Suddenly it dawned on my how lucky I was, for it seemed Mira had recently fed, and had not been as tempted by the hand I had placed over her lips.

"Would you care to tell me what's happening? You do realize there's going to be three of you at the same point in time now. I heard you – the other you."

Calculating the day's events in my head, I corrected, "Four, actually." Mira put a hand over her eyes and shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. I've saved you."

"Saved me? From what?"

"You were after this," I said, holding up the Time-Turner. "But you got caught."

Mira stared at me in silence for a few moments. "And?"

"You were…McNair…they…"

Understanding suddenly dawned on Mira, her eyes widening. "I died…didn't I?" she asked hesitantly. When I said nothing, she slumped down onto a nearby armchair. "They killed me. I suppose I should thank you for rescuing me, but…" She put her head into her hands. "You're such a fool, Lucius."

My eyes narrowed. "You're calling _me _a fool? You broke into the Department of Mysteries during a hunt for every vampire in England!"

"Yes, I _am _a fool," Mira said under her breath. "You should have left me dead. You're messing about with time. That's dangerous. You never know what could happen."

"And what were you planning on doing with this?" I said, holding up the Time-Turner again and waving it around a little. "Hmm? Wearing it as a fashionable necklace?"

"I have a plan."

"And what is it?"

"Trust me, Lucius."

"I've trusted you with everything, Mira. Why don't you trust me for once?"

A cold chill shot up my spine as Mira's head snapped up, her red eyes glaring at me. She stood, muscles tensing throughout her arms and her neck. I dropped the Time-Turner, wincing as it hit my chest, and began backing away from the vampire.

"You think I don't trust you?" she asked, arching her eyebrow. "Perhaps you have put your life in my hands. But you are the only one _I_ have ever trusted, even though I have always known that you generally hated creatures like me, even though I knew that you could easily destroy me with a word to your late master, and even though I suspected you to be exaggerating the changes you would enact for my kind. I do trust you, Lucius." Mira's eyes faded back to their dark, harmless shade. "But I – I am a monster. Let me leave your Manor for one last time, Lucius. Give me the Time-Turner."

Mira held out her hand, her dark eyes shining with tears. I wrapped a hand around the Time-Turner, finding myself unable to even consider her request. "You say you wish to leave one last time, yet you also want the power to turn back time…" Deep eyes continued to gaze steadily into mine. A moment later, to my surprised, I removed the Time-Turner from about my neck. Mira's eyes were becoming red once again, and I realized she was somehow influencing me to hand over the object.

"No," I muttered. "No. That's why you won't tell me. You're going to change something…something that will keep us from knowing each other. I can't let you do that."

"And why not?" asked Mira.

I struggled to keep from holding the Time-Turner out to her. "Without you, I would not have become Minister. The Dark Lord would still be in power."

"Don't worry about the Dark Lord, Lucius. He will still be defeated."

Mira may have been my secret weapon, but she was only one woman, one vampire. How could she, never knowing me, ensure that the Dark Lord would be defeated? I had known Mira for so long now. We had been through so much. She had stayed with me and comforted me when I lost Narcissa. She had done all she could to ensure that I would come to power. She was with me after I lost Draco. It was a strange good fortune for me that Mira had been attacked by Greyback that night, the night Narcissa to brought her wounded friend home with her.

I was caught off guard when Mira suddenly jumped forward and wrenched the Time-Turner from my grasp. She backed away from me, putting the chain over her head. "Mira, no…I can't lose you, too."

"You'll have your family back, Lucius. That's all you care about. I understand now." I stepped forward to reclaim the Time-Turner, but Mira bared her teeth and hissed threateningly. "There's nowhere safe for me in this reality anymore. I will still be caught in the Department of Mysteries, or at least be known to have been there, and McNair will turn up dead by your hand, and I will be wanted for the rest of my life."

"We can fix it," I pleaded. "Please. Don't leave me alone again."

Mira's fingers paused on the small trinket as she again gazed at me. "You'll have your life back, Lucius. Your reality."

The full implication of Mira's words suddenly occurred to me. She was not fixing _this _world – she was going further than that. She was going to undo everything to put me back into the reality I remembered.

Except _that_ reality did not seem any more real than the one I was living now. "Mira, no. I don't want it." I surprised myself by this admission. "I don't want it."

Mira arched an eyebrow in speculation. "It's all you wanted. Even when we defeated the Dark Lord, you wanted that life back."

"Not anymore." I cautiously stepped forward, wondering if there was a chance of me taking back the Time-Turner. "This is my life now, Mira." Mira lowered the Time-Turner and placed it against her chest, her brow furrowed. "I will make this world better. I said I would."

Turning her back to me, Mira asked, "You could have Narcissa and Draco back. They would be safe."

"And what of you, Mira?" I dared step closer.

"What of me?"

Mira jumped as I placed my hands onto her shoulders. "I like who I am here better, now that I am with you."

"I was your secret weapon," Mira spat. "That's all."

I spun Mira about to face me. "You are my friend." I moved my hand over her shoulder and up to her neck caressing it gently. "I don't want to lose you." _Isn't that obvious?_

Taking the opportunity, I grasped the chain of the Time-Turner and tried to pull it up over Mira's head. She resisted faster than I had expected, grabbing hold of the Time-Turner itself in one hand as she brought her hand across my face. I did not let go of the chain, but reached up to touch my stinging cheek with my other hand. "Mira!"

"You're lying! You just want to take this back," Mira accused.

"No, no…" I said quietly. "I mean it. Which is why I can't let you use this."

Mira began reaching with her other hand to turn the Time-Turner. Knowing that if she did I would lose her forever, I ducked under the chain so that the Time-Turner encompassed both of us, just as she began turning the trinket. She tried to push me away again, but I grabbed the hand she was using to hold the Time-Turner and forced it down, keeping us both within the chain. I began to feel dizzy as we struggled, and a few times I swore I saw faint blurs of people moving about the secret room.

The Time-Turner shattered.

Time abruptly resumed as normal, and I collapsed onto the ground. Mira fell down right beside me. For a moment, neither of us moved. I tried to sit up, and my head spun as though I had a serious hangover, and I immediately lay back down.

"Are you all right?" Mira asked after a moment.

"I'm not certain," I admitted, feeling the urge to vomit. "What happened?"

"The Time-Turner…" Mira rolled onto her side and touched the pieces of the item. "It's broken."

I forced myself to sit up. "I wonder when we are…?"

"You make it sound like a joke," said Mira as she got to her feet.

"Trust me, that's not how I meant it."

Mira was silent, standing with her back to me and the broken Time-Turner.

"I'm sorry," I said. The room was really cold. "I didn't mean for it to break, but I couldn't let you just vanish."

"And why not?" Mira asked, her eyes flashing as she turned to look down at me. When I didn't answer, she continued, "Now we are trapped here, whenever here is."

I pulled out my wand and tapped myself on the head, feeling as though liquid was dripping down my body. Mira's brow furrowed as she looked at me and seemed to have trouble focusing on me. "What was that?"

"A charm to keep myself hidden. May I?" I asked, holding my wand up toward her. Mira nodded hesitantly, and I performed the same charm on her. She shuddered, and suddenly, despite knowing she was standing right in front of me, I could hardly see her. The charm was certainly effective. "Let's go find out when we are, shall we?"

The Malfoy Manor seemed to be empty, which was fortunate and allowed us to look for clues as to when we had arrived. We passed through the dining room on the way to the kitchen, and something occurred to me. I looked at the bookshelf and was shocked to see it filled with books, and not merely Tom Riddle's diary. I quickly skimmed through the bindings and was surprised to find an unusual absence.

"It's gone!"

"What's gone?" Mira followed my gaze. "The diary!"

"That's been there since the Dark Lord's return, has it not?" I asked. Mira nodded, and we looked at each other as realization dawned. "The Dark Lord isn't back."

We went outside and discovered that it was really warm. It was likely near the end of the Hogwarts school year, and Draco's second one if the book was gone…unless it was even further back into the past. Assuming it was Draco's second year, the Dark Lord had not yet returned, but he would soon if we did not discover what had happened to cause the second reality.

With side-along Apparition, I brought Mira with me to Hogsmeade Village, so that we would at least be close to Hogwarts while we figured out our plan of action. We went to the Hog's Head, which was quite nearly empty, in order to talk things over. Drinking some firewhiskey, we finally discussed our predicament.

"We could try to change things," Mira suggested. "We could try to make it the other way, where your family is safe."

"But I don't want to trade you for it," I insisted again. "You're important to me, and now neither life seems any more real than the other. Who are we to decide what happens?"

Mira downed the rest of her firewhiskey. "Lucius, we do not even know what caused what. Doing nothing could cause either reality. So, do we try to interfere and choose, or let fate decide?"

Mira stiffened suddenly, watching someone carefully over my shoulder. Glancing behind me, I saw that Remus Lupin had entered the pub. It was rather disturbing to remember killing him in one of the possible futures. Avoiding eye contact, I busied myself with my drink as Mira muttered something about, "he'll know" and quickly darted out the back door of the pub. I supposed the rumors about vampires and werewolves being instinctively enemies were true.

I downed the rest of my drink before paying the bartender, who smelled much like a goat, and then left the pub, doing my best not to be noticed by the werewolf. Once in the street, I found that there was no one around the Hog's Head. I looked down the alleyway beside the pub, thinking that Mira could be waiting for me there. It was very dark in the alley, and I cautiously stepped into the shadows. "Mira?" I inquired quietly. "Mira?"

Annoyed that my vampire friend had simply vanished, I pulled out a small knife I always kept on my person for emergencies, and put it against the palm of my hand. Taking a deep breath, I grit my teeth against the pain as I drew the knife across my hand, a line of blood forming across my palm. The smell of my blood would surely bring Mira back to my side, albeit she would probably be very irritated at me for it. I readied my wand, just in case.

Suddenly a woman in a hooded cloak was at my side and almost on top of me, only held back by the wand I held between us. "That was quick," I said, taking a deep breath.

"Shouldn't you know better than to wander into dark alleys, Mr. Malfoy?" hissed the woman. "Especially with such _pure blood_ dripping from your hand?"


	12. Double

Chapter 12: Double

Worried about the danger I heard behind the familiar voice, I cast, "_Lumos_."

At first, I was relieved to see that it was definitely Mira who was pinning me to the wall of the alley. I was much less than comforted as I studied her, however. Her eyes were deep red, her face gaunt with hunger, and her expression like a wild animal. And then I knew:

This was not _my _Mira.

"What do you think your wand will do? You and your magic are nothing against me," Mira taunted. "And you smell so sweet – you will be quite the feast."

"You haven't fed in a long time," I said, noting her obvious hunger. "You won't have the strength to fend off my spells," I said as confidently as possible.

The vampire tilted her head slightly in curiosity. "Have you faced a vampire before?"

"Yes," I said with a nervous smile, tilting my neck slightly to show the bite marks that Mira had left me. This other Mira from the past looked quite astonished.

"And you survived? With blood that smells as delicious as yours?"

"She has a point, Lucius. You are lucky to be alive."

Both me and the other Mira turned to look at a shadow approaching from the darkness. "Mira?" I glanced at the vampire in front of me and back to the one who had bitten me. "Don't you know better than this?" I said warningly, knowing full well the possible effects of seeing oneself in the past.

"You're one to talk," Mira said, stepping into the light of my Lumos spell.

The Mira who had accosted me gaped, taking a few steps away from me as she shook her head in astonishment and disbelief. "You – you're – but – that's not right. That's so not right. You fool, I'll go mad!"

"I'll be fine," Mira said quietly, coming up beside me. "I remember this meeting. I remember seeing myself."

"This explains so much about you," I said, doing my best to keep a straight face.

"Lucius," Mira said warningly, but with an amused grin. "I remember you doing _this, _as well." Her hand darted towards me, grasping my wrist so tightly I momentarily feared she would break the bone, and she pulled my hand up toward her mouth. My breath quickened as she brought my hand closer to her lips, her fangs glinting in the light at the end of my wand, although she did not bite.

"I don't understand," the other Mira said. "How do you know me? I mean, know her? Who are you?" she asked Mira. "When are you from?" Before the confused Mira could step further away, the Mira I knew grabbed onto the collar of the other Mira's clothing.

"You aren't going anywhere, not yet." Mira turned back to me, eyeing the blood dripping from my hand hungrily. "May I?"

Swallowing with difficulty, I said, "If you can refrain from -."

I did not even have a chance to finish before Mira's tongue darted out and licked the blood from my hand. Her lips gently touched my skin as she began to suck ever so slightly, drawing a little more blood from my veins. "Mira…" I said fearfully.

Mira drew back, licking my blood from her lips before turning back to the other Mira. "Sorry," she said under her breath, her eyes glowing. My heart pounded with fear and a strange thrill at the sensation as I looked down at my tingling hand.

"Now I know this is all a lie. You aren't really me," the other Mira said harshly. "I would never hold back, not with _him_. Him and his precious pureblood nonsense. It's those like him that keep those like me underground. He even betrays his own kind when it suits him. He deserves nothing short of a horrific death," Mira spat angrily.

Stunned, I turned to my Mira. "You hated me?"

Mira averted her eyes from mine. "More like loathed with a passion. But I know that she's lying; she would hold back."

"I would not!" the other Mira protested.

"You wouldn't because of Narcissa," Mira countered. "You wouldn't really kill your only friend's husband." Mira appeared angry, but did not deny it. "But back to the point. The reason why I'm here, in Hogsmeade – doesn't that interest you, Lucius?"

"How do you know?" the other Mira gasped.

"I'm you, remember?" Mira responded. "Care to tell dear Lucius what exactly you are here for?"

"I'm supposed to believe that he's going to become _dear_ Lucius? Bullshit." The other Mira tried to pull away from my Mira's grip, but Mira grabbed onto her with both hands and shoved her forcibly against the nearby wall. After a moment of silence, the other Mira said, "I promised not to tell him."

"But why? We've never met before," I said in confusion.

"I've been sent to kill Ginny Weasley," my Mira said blatantly.

My mouth dropped open in shock. "The little Weasley girl? But who would want to kill her?"

The other Mira scoffed, and in unison the two said, "Your wife."

"She found out what you did with the diary. She, unlike yourself, was wise enough to realize how important an item it was," the other Mira said with spite.

"Out of fear for you and your son, she sent me to kill her," my Mira added.

"You would never be suspected," the other Mira continued without pause. "You would never associate with someone like me."

"If Ginny realized what you had done and told, you could have been ruined."

"If the Dark Lord returned because of it, your family would be in danger."

"Either way, it was better off for her to be dead," my Mira finished.

This sudden revelation was even more disconcerting for the fact that two Miras were standing before me. I could hardly believe what they were telling me. "So…" I said, trying to get my mind around all the new information. "My wife caused the change in reality?"

"Actually I think we did." Mira stepped away from her former self. "Don't move. I can catch you," she warned her former self before moving to speak in my ear. "We messed with time, Lucius. That's how we got here. That's how I remember this meeting. Something happens here, now, that changes the future."

After a brief pause to think, I said, "Killing the Weasley girl."

"What of it?" Mira asked quietly.

"If Ginny Weasley is dead, the Dark Lord can't use her life force to come back. You – she – has to go through with it."

"No!" Mira's strong response startled me. "No. Lucius – I killed Ginny Weasley." Again she surprised me. Mira did not seem the type to kill the innocent – of course, I did not know that she had hated me previously either. What else did I not know about my friend? "And the Dark Lord returned. I think we have to assume that not killing her leads to the life you want, with Narcissa and Draco safe."

"You killed her? But I wasn't going to," the other Mira interjected. "It's too risky. Not to mention that I'm not going to kill an innocent girl."

"Oh, I'm sure you've never kill anyone innocent," my Mira said under her breath. She grew distant, calculating all the threads of time faster than I could even make any sense of the basics. "All right. You, come with me, I need to talk to you," she said, pointing to Mira. "And you, go do something else for a while," she continued, waving her hand at me as though shooing me away. "I'll find you, and you don't need to cut yourself."

"Are you certain you want to do this? You want to choose that reality?"

"I want Narcissa back too, Lucius," she said quietly.

"But - ."

"Look, this happened to me before, remember? I know what to do."

I sighed, looking curiously at the two vampires before turning and walking away. I went to the Three Broomsticks and had a butterbeer, than two. After my third I became worried and walked back towards the Hog's Head.

Looking through the window, I saw that Lupin was no longer inside, or at least not visibly, and the two vampires were seated at a table together. My Mira was writing something on a parchment and speaking urgently to the other. Something about how she told me this had happened to her before suddenly felt like a lie. I moved away from the window quickly when I saw the two Miras turning to look toward me. When I again ventured a glance a minute later, Mira was handing a sealed envelope to her former self.

Mira stepped out of the pub alone shortly after. Her expression was incredibly sad, with a look that a person has when they have committed themselves to doing something dreadful, but when she saw me, she immediately brightened. I would never have noticed her true feelings if she had not shown them a moment before.

"This should all work out. Hopefully the Dark Lord won't return, and then you can live out your life with your family," she said with a smile.

"What about us?" I reached out to touch her cheek. "What do we do now with the rest of our lives if this works?"

"I…I suppose we need to find some out of the way place. We'll have time to talk about it. If it doesn't work, we don't have another chance, not now that the Time-Turner is gone."

Her eyes were so deep and beautiful, yet no emotion was betrayed in them. "Let's go keep watch on Hogwarts and hope for the best."

We traveled up to a mountain overlooking Hogwarts so we could watch anyone entering or leaving the grounds. Now we just had to wait.


	13. New Life

Chapter 13: New Life

Unsure of how long we would have to wait, we set up camp on a flat ledge overlooking the front entrance of Hogwarts. We built a small fire, and I set up protective spells around us so that no one would see the flames from the castle.

"It's beautiful."

Mira sat at the edge of the cliff, gazing at the castle longingly. I cautiously moved to sit beside her. "I always wanted to go there. I've heard such wonderful stories." She sighed. "But the only time I entered there, I was focused on murder."

"I am sorry. It really is lovely, isn't it?"

The castle was light by the soft glow of the moonlight and flickering lights shone through the windows. The waters of the lake rippled, and a dark shadow moved beneath the surface.

"You would have liked the Slytherin common room, I think," I ventured. "It's built with stone, with leather furniture and a grand fireplace. Windows cover a good portion of it, but they don't look onto the sky or the grounds – the common room is underwater, under the lake, and the room is always bathed in a mystical green glow." Mira smiled as she imagined. "Sometimes a mermaid or two would go by within view, and on occasion we could see the giant squid."

"That lake has mermaids? Wow." Mira chewed a little on her lower lip. "I wish I could have gone to Hogwarts. I wish I was like you."

I was not certain now to respond. An awkward silence hung in the air between us until I finally grasped at something to say. "If this succeeds, and time is put back the way it was with Narcissa…what will happen to us?"

Mira shrugged. "I suppose we will be stuck here, in the past. We can't really go assume our former lives with our younger selves wandering around."

Again we fell into silence. As the hours past, I tried to lie down to rest but found the ground very uncomfortable. Mira eventually coaxed me to use her lap as a pillow so I could get some sleep. Her cool fingers stroked my hair absentmindedly as I drifted off into sleep.

When I woke up the following morning, Mira was in the same position, staring out at Hogwarts with fingers fiddling with my hair. I sat up rather suddenly, and Mira started in surprise. "Have a good night's rest, Lucius?"

I put a hand to my back and groaned. "As good as expected." I brushed my hand through my hair like a comb. "I assume I didn't miss anything." My stomach growled, and Mira got to her feet.

"Where are you going?"

"You are hungry. I'll find you something to eat."

Before I could protest, Mira dashed into the trees in the blink of an eye. I continued watching the castle as I awaited her return. Mira came out of the trees holding what appeared to be the remains of a deer. I felt quite sick at the sight.

Mira prepared some of the meat for cooking while I kept my eyes averted. When she had disposed of the carcass I found the stomach to watch her cook the meat. "Strange breakfast for you, I know," she said with a smile. Her teeth were still stained with blood. I ate the venison in silence.

"I'm sorry that it turned out this way," Mira said, breaking the silence.

"Sorry about what?" I asked in confusion.

"You can't be with Narcissa. Well, you will be, but not _you_. You'll have to find some place off the beaten path to avoid suspicion. You can't go back to your friends, your family, for the rest of your life."

It was true, and it hurt to realize what our actions had done to us. "I'll have you," I said softly. Mira looked confused. "It's like it would have been in the other reality – you and me." I smiled slightly. "I can imagine worse fates than spending the rest of my life with you." Mira gazed at the castle silently, her mouth forming a small grin. "I hope I'm not being presumptuous."

Mira laughed. "No, no. I don't want to be alone. The rest of your life together it is."

Her words struck me coldly when a realization I had never considered occurred to me. _Your life…_ Not hers. I was mortal. I would age. I would die. "Mira…how long do vampires live?"

Mira inhaled sharply at this question. "I don't know," she admitted. "Most only live a few centuries before wizards discover them and kill them," she added darkly.

"And…if you don't mind me asking…how old are you?"

Mira glared at me, but the shadow of a smile played on her lips. "Don't you know better than to ask a woman her age?"

"My son had a friend at school, Blaise Zabini – if his father was your father, you can't be much older than…maybe ten years older than my son?" This calculation made me feel suddenly guilty for my unsaid feelings for Mira. For all I knew, she _was _my son's age.

"I never said that my father was a recent Zabini," Mira said with an enigmatic grin. "I assure you, I am older than I look."

This comment sparked another question. "Do vampires grow…older? In physical stature, I mean?"

Mira stiffened with and her mouth hanging slightly open in an unspoken response, and I understood. She had looked the exact same here, in this past (albeit less healthy) as now. "To my knowledge, not noticeably," she answered finally.

"Ah." Again we fell into silence. I had never felt self-conscious about my mortality, my aging, but suddenly the normal life process felt embarrassing, like some sort of disease. Of course I had always toyed with ideas about immortality and finding some less extreme means to achieve it than the Dark Lord had done to avoid death. Sitting beside me was a beautiful young (at least in appearance) woman who would not age, while I would become older before her eyes. In a decade, I could easily be mistaken for her father, and soon after that, her grandfather. Would her desire to remain in my company change once I was elderly?

"There you go."

Mira's voice jarred me out of my anxious thoughts just in time for me to see myself and Dobby entering the school. "Our timing is impeccable," she commented with a smile. "Soon we shall see if we were successful." Mira smiled at me, but it did not quite reach her eyes. Perhaps her thoughts were similar to mine.

Soon after, my past self exited Hogwarts alone. The Dark Lord had not returned. He would in two years, but time was back on track. I would escape the next years and the war with my family intact, and hopefully live that life to its fullest and happiest with my wife.

Thoughts of my wife, however, did not comfort me, but instead haunted me. She was alive and safe, and would not die in the near future because of what me and Mira had done. At the same time, I would never see her again. I would never hold her, never kiss her – it would be as though she was dead to me.

I wanted to find a way to at least see Narcissa, even if only a glimpse in Diagon Alley. Mira wisely kept me from trying. It would be even more difficult for me to leave Britain and hide away if I saw my former life within reach.

We found a small, isolated castle in the north of Sweden. Cleaning up the old place was a strange relief for its distractions. Within a year, we had changed the castle from its abandoned state to an old elegance, with soft curtains and antique furniture that reminded me of the Manor. It was useful to be in a similar setting – it was almost like being in the other reality, except with no responsibilities.

There was a quaint village nearby of oblivious Muggles living amongst a few wizards. No one recognized me there, and I would regularly travel there to get basic food and supplies. Mira would occasionally disappear for a day or so at a time, coming back with lips red and cheeks flushed. I did not ask on what or whom she was feeding. Given that no one in the village spoke of mysterious vanishings or murders, I assumed that Mira was hunting animals instead of humans.

Despite being isolated away from the world I knew, after finally accepting my new future, I was content. Mira and I created our own little world. I obtained hundreds of books, recreating the library I had at the Malfoy Manor. Mira found a fondness for poetry, and we spend many hours sitting by the fire reading in silence. It was not the life I was used to at all, but overall I was happy, and Mira was too. At least, for the time being.

It was the night that the Dark Lord would return. Mira and I busied ourselves with preparing an overly extravagant meal of steak (raw for her), various vegetables, expensive red wine, and a chocolate cake. I think we were both avoiding the topic, and I, at least, was worried that the Dark Lord would know that something was strange. I was connected to him, after all. The Dark Mark on my arm had been growing more pronounced by the day. What if he somehow knew?

Mira and I rarely ate in silence, but tonight we did. It was as though we were waiting for confirmation of the Dark Lord's return and that a single word might interrupt it.

Which he did while I was in the middle of a taking a drink of wine. The pain startled me, even though I had been expecting it. I dropped the glass, which rolled off the table and shattered on the floor, and grasped my forearm. Instantly Mira was kneeling by my side, her hand covering the one on my Mark. Her dark eyes gazed up at me worriedly. She remained silent.

That night I could not sleep. I feared that the Dark Lord felt my existence and would come investigate. Sheer exhaustion prompted me to begin to fall asleep in the early morning hours, only for me to startle awake from a nightmare in which the Dark Lord found our hideaway. Apparently I cried out, for suddenly Mira entered my room, her eyes wide with worry. I muttered something about the nightmare, curling up in my bed and holding my legs to my chest like a frightened child.

Mira sat on the bed beside me, gently pulling me from my curled position and against her body with her arms wrapped protectively around me. "I'll watch over you." Her body was cold, but still the presence was comforting and I fell asleep, this time with less terrifying dreams.

This continued to be our arrangement the following weeks. Sometimes Mira would hold me, some nights she would stand at the window and watch the sky, and at other times she would stare at me as I went to sleep. She was my protector.


	14. Decisions

Chapter 14: Decisions

After two months of no sign that the Dark Lord knew of my existence, there was no more excuse for Mira to watch over me as I slept. I wished that I had the courage to ask her to stay with me at night. Another year passed with us enjoying a simple life together. I felt the Dark Lord calling his followers frequently, an experience I was never entirely prepared for, and I would frequently drop whatever I was holding or cry out in surprise. Although Mira never responded with worry or surprise, she would still reach out a hand in comfort every time.

I was not the only one no longer entirely content in my new life. Every passing day seemed to leave Mira a little more restless and saddened. Whenever I ventured to ask why, she would deny that anything about her demeanor had changed. Her hunting trips became less frequent, as though she no longer cared if she was fully satisfied in her thirst for blood. Yet, when I accidently cut my finger one evening while preparing a meal, and Mira did not react with more than a glance. Her behavior reminded me of when the Dark Lord had returned in this timeline, and Narcissa would stop eating for days at a time because of worry and depression.

One year before the Dark Lord would fall, I finally decided to approach her about another matter that had long been on my mind. "Mira, I need to talk to you." We went to the tallest tower of our little castle, and I urged her to sit beside me on a window seat looking out onto the setting sun.

"What is this about, Lucius?"

I looked down at my hands, somehow unable to meet her eyes. "It's been four years, Mira. You once told me we would spend the rest of my life together. But you don't seem happy here."

"I've never been one for happiness," Mira answered rather coldly. "But don't concern yourself with me, Lucius." She smiled weakly at me.

"I don't want to leave you alone."

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked quietly.

"No, I don't want to go anywhere."

"Then what are you talking about?" she inquired impatiently.

"I'm getting older," I blurted out. "I'm going to die, Mira. I don't know when or how, but I'm going to die. And I don't want to."

Mira watched the sun disappear over the trees on the horizon. "No one lives forever, Lucius."

"You could," I said softly. Mira looked at me in surprise, her brow furrowing as she began understanding where the conversation was leading.

"Lucius…"

"I want to stay with you. Forever, if it means that." I bit my lip, surprised at my own eagerness.

Mira got to her feet and turned away from me. "No. I will not do that to you."

I stood as well. "I can never go back to the life I had. My life now is with you." I grasped Mira by the shoulders and futilely tried to turn her to face me. "Mira, please, consider it."

"I will not condemn you to the life I have to live," Mira said firmly. "Nothing is a good enough reason for that, not the possible immortality, eternal youth, nothing. It isn't a decision you can make on a whim."

"This isn't on a whim! I've had years to think about this, and it's what I want."

Mira turned and glared at me, her eyes becoming red as she searched my eyes for my true intentions. "I won't do it," she said finally. She looked out into the night sky in silence, and I wondered if I should leave. I had not meant to anger Mira – I did not realize my request would elicit such a strong negative reaction. I slowly turned and walked away, but before I left the room, Mira spoke again. "Ask me again…a year from now, if you still want it. But understand what it means."

Despite rejecting it, my offer seemed to reignite Mira's lust for my blood. The next time I "accidentally" cut myself (I blame my subconscious), Mira's eyes became blood red and she appeared to physically struggle to keep from leaping at me. "You wouldn't be more than an animal," she emphasized before growling and leaving for a hunt. I did not have a chance to point out that Mira was much more than an animal, and so I would be as well.

More than once, I caught Mira listening to the radio. Reports of vampires and werewolves and other non-wizard creatures turning up dead were frequent, yet unspecific. I wondered if she was listening for a friend, or perhaps more morbidly, for herself. Despite knowing that nearly every vampire in Great Britain was slain by the Dark Lord except the few who joined him, I was not worried about the other Mira. After all, Mira had to survive in order for us to know each other in the future and be thrown back in time to continue the time loop. We only had to worry that the Dark Lord would realize my existence, an anomaly in time, and even then, perhaps there was nothing to concern us.

As the weeks continued to pass us by, Mira began to become a little less depressed and enjoyed herself more. The two of us began spending even more time together, and for a while we even forgot about all our problems.

Then came the night before the Dark Lord's death. It was one year exactly since I had asked Mira to change me. I knew that there was a great deal that I would be giving up, and I knew that it would not truly be forever – someone would finally come along and destroy me. But at least we would have longer together, and we could together without Mira always needing to be on her guard. She would not have to fear nearly killing me again.

Although my desire remained to be turned, a small part of me still feared it. How could I not? Mira herself had warned me, multiple times, that she might enter the bloodlust while transforming me, which would lead to my death. A twinge of guilt often pulled at me as well, reminding me of my wife and my son. Even though I had no chance to ever be with them again, it seemed a sort of betrayal, becoming a vampire.

I had made my decision.

Sitting in the same window and watching the sunset, I said, "It's been a year."

Mira took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes."

"I know what I want."

Mira chewed on her lip, her fangs glinting. "All right."

"I still wish to become like you."

Mira said nothing, frozen with her face toward the sun.

"I've thought a lot about this," I continued. "I understand the consequences – you've made certain of that." Mira still said nothing, and I began to wonder if she would refuse me again. "Mira…"

"Why do you want it?"

My heart pounded in both fear and anticipation. "I…I don't want you to be alone."

"I've been on my own most of my life. As much as I may appreciate your company, I'll survive without it," Mira responded coldly.

"I want to stay with you."

"And you will, for the rest of your life."

I stood and paced the room, becoming very impatient. I was not used to being denied what I want, especially not with this dismissive attitude. "I'm getting older, Mira. I look old enough to be your father."

"Simple vanity."

"I don't want to die!"

"Everybody dies, Lucius, even vampires."

Mira finally deigned to look at me, her eyes hard and cold. But I knew her better than she believed – we had been together long enough for me to know when she was lying. She wanted to give in; I knew it. She could satiate her long-desired lust for my blood as well as gain my further company. She was merely waiting for what she considered an answer from me that would prove that I truly wanted nothing else. Mira did not want to condemn me to a half-life without proper incentive.

"What are you waiting for, Mira?" I asked quietly.

"A reason worthy of such a…drastic action."

"I want it. For years, this is what I've desired, Mira – to be with you. Isn't that enough?"

"No!" Mira's eyes flashed. "I once made a promise, Lucius. I promised myself I would never transform anyone again."

"Again?" Somehow the possibility that she had done this before had never occurred to me.

"I've seen what it can do, Lucius. Did you know vampires could kill themselves?" A tear escaped Mira's eye. "I didn't. Until someone I thought I was saving from a painful illness. He lasted less than a month before he took a wooden stake to his own heart." Mira glared at me. "I can't…I can't do that to you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself." She tried to push by me to leave the tower, but I caught her by the arm. "I won't do it, Lucius," she repeated.

"Please, Mira."

"Nothing you can say will change my mind, Lucius. There is no reason you could have that would be enough to keep you sane after the transformation. As much as I might want…"

"I love you."

It was only when Mira turned to stare at me, open-mouthed and wide-eyed, that I realized that I had said it aloud. I let go of her arm, turning my flushed face away. "What?" she breathed.

I breathed deeply before looking back into her eyes. I felt no guilt, no remorse. "I love you, Mira."

I do not know how long she stared at me, her eyes gleaming with both tears and a growing hunger. Finally, she turned away, a hand over her mouth as she faced the setting sun. It had nearly disappeared over the horizon, bathing us in moonlight.

"Well?" I prompted quietly, uneasy about Mira's silence.

"Once the transformation begins, there is no going back." Mira slowly looked back to me, her eyes still glistening with tears. "Nothing, not even reordering time, can undo it." I slowly nodded, my heart beginning to race as Mira stepped toward me, her eyes now starting to deepen into a blood red.

"I'm ready."

Mira stood face-to-face with me, her eyes now as red and hungry as during the bloodlust. "No you're not," she said with a smirk, her fangs flashing. "Nothing can prepare for it."

"I've been bitten before," I said, forcing a smile.

Mira shook her head. "I can assure you that you will never experience anything more painful than what I'm about to put you through," she said, a small grin playing on her mouth as she licked her lips. "Turning you into a vampire is much different than simply draining you of your blood." I gulped. "Are you certain about this?"

"Yes."

Mira leaned forward, but did not go immediately for my neck. I closed my eyes as Mira's lips touched mine. Her cool body pressed closer to mine, arms wrapping around me and pulling me into a deadly embrace. The kiss felt unlike anything I had ever experienced with Narcissa. It was slow and passionate, yet filled with a fear and danger. Her lips were cold, but not without care or love. When she pulled away, I opened my eyes.

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my pounding heart and trembling body as Mira gently tilted my head back. Her breath brushed over my neck, hesitating over the delicate skin and giving me a last chance to change my mind. I gasped when she pressed her lips to my neck. "Shh," she whispered, gently kissing along my neck again.

It felt like an eternity of waiting, but now my breath was steady and calm. I felt at peace.

Then, Mira's sharp fangs suddenly pierced my flesh.

At first, it felt like before, when Mira had begun draining my blood when she attacked me at the Manor. But she was right. Soon, her vampire blood began to replace my own, and instead of my body numbing, it felt like every vein was on fire. I heard myself screaming, but I could not stop it until it silenced simply due to lack of air. Mira clung to me, her arms keeping me steady and close to her as she eagerly drank.


	15. Alive

I forced my eyes open. I blinked, wincing as my eyelids scratched my eyes. Closing them tightly, I reached up to rub my eye, hoping to produce tears to provide moisture, but I drew back as I was surprised by my own touch. My fingers were like ice, yet so was the skin of my face. The sensations felt distant, more like memories than actual touch.

Memories of the transformation began to resurface as I sat up. Movement reignited remnants of the burning pain throughout my body of Mira's blood replacing my own. Looking around, I saw that I was in my own bed at the castle Mira and I shared, but Mira was nowhere to be found. A single candle was lit on the bedside table, and I was surprised to see how brightly the small flame illuminated the entire bedroom. Delicately, I touched my neck, tracing around two small holes in my flesh. I stretched, feeling my muscles pull taunt as I got out of bed, using one of the wooden posts to hold myself up until I got my balance. Every motion felt foreign to me.

It was not until I looked up at the mirror across the room that I really understood what had happened. I stumbled to it, touching the glass where I should have seen a reflection of myself, but instead there was nothing but an empty room. That was truly disconcerting. Touching my hair, my face, my chest, I wondered what I looked like after this drastic transformation. Looking down, I was embarrassed and surprised to realize that I was lacking clothing. I ran my hand over my skin, marveling at how I was even paler than before. Hearing light footsteps nearby, I quickly grabbed a dressing gown from a nearby chair, pulling it on just before Mira entered the bedroom.

She stopped in the doorway, taking a deep breath as she gazed at me. It felt as though her stare went right through me as she looked me up and down as I pulled the gown tightly about me. "I brought you something to drink," she said uneasily, holding out a silver chalice which appeared to contain thick red liquid. I shuddered slightly, stepping forward and tentatively taking it. "I thought this would be the easiest for your first time," she said apologetically.

I stared down at the blood, which curiously smelled similar to how I remembered the smell of apples. Hesitantly, I raised the cup to my lips and took a sip. The flavor and feeling of the blood on my tongue startled me, burning my lips like the first time I had stolen a sip of fire whiskey. Mira stared at me unwaveringly.

"Is there something wrong, Mira?" I asked, my voice dry, prompting me to have another small sip of the blood. I began getting used to the feeling and flavor almost immediately.

"I…I'm just wondering how you are feeling."

Her expression revealed that she was concerned about my mental health more than physical. "I'm all right. I feel a little strange," I admitted. "It's disconcerting to look into a mirror and not see your own reflection," I continued with a small smile, touching my new fangs with fascination.

Mira shook her head. "That's normal to me. I've never seen my reflection."

"Really? So…you don't know what you look like?"

Mira chuckled. "I have been painted before," she said with a smile. "But the last time I had that done was over one hundred years ago. My daily appearance eludes me."

_She certainly is older than she appears. _ Drinking more blood and feeling a rush throughout my body, I quietly said, "For what it's worth, you are very beautiful."

Mira bit her lip and looked away shyly. "Thank you."

I downed the rest of the blood, and I felt incredibly _alive_. I stretch again, feeling strength flowing through my body. "If you don't mind my asking…how do I look? I'm not used to having no reflection."

"Such vanity," Mira muttered with a small smile, taking the chalice away from me. She reached out her free hand, hesitating a moment before gently running a finger down the side of my face, seeming to study me. A smile played on her lips as she stroked a hand through my hair. "You look as handsome as always, Lucius." She withdrew her hand quickly and backed away, but I instinctively reached out and grasped her wrist.

"Mira…what is bothering you?" Mira sighed and avoided my gaze, confirming my suspicions that she was afraid of something. "I assure you, I am not having any second thoughts," I said, hoping this would quell her fears. I stepped closer to her, pulling on her wrist when she made to step back. "Why do you recoil?"

My eyes widened as my gaze suddenly focused on where I was holding her arm. Instead of the coolness that I had become accustomed to, Mira's skin felt almost warm. Hesitantly, I reached out my other hand to touch her face. Mira pulled back slightly, but allowed my hand to cup her cheek, which felt incredibly hot to the touch. Startled, I pulled away. "What – I don't understand. You feel…real…no, wrong word…you feel warm." Mira's eyes seemed to laugh at me as I ventured to touch her again, placing a hand on her neck. "How is that possible? Are you no longer…?"

Shaking her hand, Mira placed her hand over mine, holding my cool hand against her warm body. "I haven't changed. I always felt cold to you because you were hot-blooded. Now that you are like me, when one of us is more…satiated than the other, we will feel hot to the touch."

"It's so strange…everything feels different," I said, taking an involuntary step closer to the vampire. Vampire…a word I once despised, and now it defined me. "You even smell different," I said, leaning closer and smelling her neck.

"You can just smell better," Mira corrected. She pressed her cheek against mine briefly and inhaled. "You still smell sweet."

"Motion, sight, touch," I said while pulling back slightly. "Does this feel different as well?" I whispered, closing the gap between us and pulling Mira into a gentle kiss.

It truly did feel completely different. Mira's lips felt like fire against my own. Unlike before she bit me, I felt no fear or danger in the intimacy, only the passion. It was strange to think about how my body must have felt cool to her, and I briefly wondered if she had ever felt another like this in the past. A low growl escaped my throat in a strange sense of jealousy and protectiveness of Mira as I wrapped my free arm about her waist.

What began as a tender motion quickly transformed into a passionate and fervent embrace. I felt at a complete loss of control as I poured out every ounce of affection I could muster through the kiss. My hands, which had at first been delicately caressing Mira's warm skin now clutched at her as though in desperation. I smiled against Mira's lips as I felt her arms wrapping around me, holding me even closer to her as one hand went up into my hair. My vision seemed to darken with desire when I tried to open my eyes, and I found myself staring into Mira's own blood red gaze.

The sight caused me to hesitate and pull my head back just enough to break the kiss, realizing the depth of what I was doing. We had hardly even kissed before this, and I here I was, ravishing a woman who had never admitted returning the feelings I had expressed for her. Here I was, once a proud and powerful pureblood who despised the very existence of creatures just like her…

And just like me.

_I'm like an animal._

"I did warn you," Mira said quietly, but she did not push me away.

"I am just not used to this existence or these feelings yet," I hastily tried to explain, but Mira's smile showed that she did not really care about excuses and she also did not appear to mind my advances. "Your eyes are so beautiful," I breathed. "I didn't really appreciate them dark like this before when you were attacking me," I joked with a grin. "I thought they were showing me hell. Now I see they are showing me passion." I reached up and touched Mira's face again, admiring the darkness in her eyes I had once feared. But as the sleeve of my dressing gown fell back slightly when I raised my arm, my gaze was distracted by another sight.

The Dark Mark was still burned harshly into my arm.

"Mira…" I breathed, my brow furrowing. "Why is this still here?"

Mira took my arm and traced around the outside of the mark curiously. "Is this not permanent?"

"No. No it's not." I shook me head and to a step backwards as though to escape my own arm. "This should have faded when the Dark Lord was killed – and he should have died last night."

"Last week, actually," Mira corrected under her breathe. "You were unconscious for a while," she quickly explained.

"It does not matter," I snapped. My being unconscious for a week seemed trivial next to this discovery. "This should not be like this! It faded the very night Harry Potter vanquished the Dark Lord before," I said, panic creeping into my voice.

Now Mira began to show true signs of worry. "You're sure?" A harsh look convinced her of my certainty. "Okay. So what does it mean?"

The passion I had felt for Mira had disappeared, replaced by anger and fear that felt all too familiar to me. "It means that Harry Potter did not succeed in slaying the Dark Lord." I took a deep breath as I contemplated the possible repercussions of this realization. "It means that the Dark Lord is alive."


End file.
